Raw and Order
by HappySlasher
Summary: What happens when you mix Law and Order and WWE television? Some Slash. Different episodes involved.
1. Episode 1: Love, Money, and Buisness

Well this isn't really…I don't know. I was watching a lot of Law and Order (SVU) lately and this came up.

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><p>"John, as you know, settling isn't my style." Randy stated without emotion. He crossed his arms and looked down upon his colleague; trying to completely assess the situation. This was a serious case. The man was defending a murderer. All the evidence was clear as day and yet he still had to find some way to make it invalid. The only sure fire way to entail that was to lie. He needed to slander the plaintiff and lie his butt off.<p>

John looked up at him and shook his head. "I'm sorry but that seems like the only option for you sweet heart. This thing is all wrapped up. No need for a trial." Cena stood to his feet and triumphantly popped the collar on his suit jacket. His job was much easier in this case; the lawyer for the distraught victim. He smirked as he saw that only angered his tall opponent.

"I'm willing to fight this." Randy snapped.

"But is your client?" John retorted just as quickly. The smirk never left his face as he wrapped up his papers and grabbed his suitcase. When Randy failed to answer, John walked up beside him and dropped the curl of his lips. "He's not strong enough to go through with it, sweetie." John's stern statement couldn't even be met by the disgusted look in Randy's icy blue eyes. John smiled again and rubbed the new formed stubble under Randy's chin. "You'll always be under me, Rands." He patted Randy on the back and swiftly exited the room.

"You know, I really think you need to sit down and talk with him." Edge persisted. He and Randy were relaxing and enjoying a nice cup of coffee at five in the morning as Randy looked over his case. Edge, another lawyer from his firm had been looking over it as well. The two worked plenty of cases together and Randy could often blame most of his success on the older man. He was his partner in crime, the one who made things happen. Randy trusted him with this type of information and truly needed his perspective. "This Rhodes kid seems like a good kid and for him to just up and commit murder... something's not right. As a former psychiatrist, I know how people's patterns are Randy, and this doesn't make too much of any sense."

Randy sighed heavily as he checked the kid's profile. Cody Rhodes. Age: 25. Young, slim, gorgeous, brunette. All around athlete. B average student. Never had a felony in his life. A spotless record to date and now this. He sighed and checked medical files on the boy.

As he rummaged through the papers, he slowed feeling Edge pat his shoulder. "Sorry buddy. That's a dead end. He's not mentally unstable, or diseased ridden, or even has anger management issues."

Randy angrily slammed his folder shut. "What else is there then?"

Edge rubbed Randy's back, calming him a tad bit. "You're going to have to talk to him face to face. You don't even know his relations to the victim, possible motives, or" Edge was interrupted.

"And I won't get to know because he refuses to meet face to face. Something about him being pathetic..." Randy groaned, obviously annoyed. "The stupid kid would rather go to court, not say a word, and be punished than just speak to me."

Edge nodded, understanding the situation. "That's your only option Randy. The telephone doesn't give the privacy our interrogation room does and you'll be able to make sure everything is hush hush." Edge downed the last of his coffee and stood to his feet. "In fact, Randall, you clean up and get down to the station in about two hours. I think I'll have a little surprise for you."

Randy eyed the man curiously but nodded. He walked Edge to the door of his apartment and, waving goodbye, let him out. When the man was gone Randy slowly sunk go the floor. He lied against the soft carpet and drew the photo of the Rhodes boy close to his face. "Cody Rhodes... What pray tell are you hiding from me?"

As he was told, Randy, dressed up in his black slacks and red button down shirt and headed down to the police station. There, he was met with a smirk from his friend from the night before. "What's this little surprise?" Randy stated, tired but curious all the same.

Edge smirked even wider and shifted his eyes to the one-way glass. Randy immediately followed suit and nearly leeched himself to the glass as he recognized what exactly was before him. The Rhodes boy was cuffed by one hand to the table with his head down and a blue hoodie covering it. Randy gasped and turned to Edge, speechless.

"You're welcome," Edge laughed out and pushed Randy into the ominous dark room. He leaned over to the tan man whispering, "I won't be watching or listening. No one will but I will secretly be recording this conversation." Randy nodded and Edge closed the door, leaving the two men alone.

Randy looked down at the seemingly resting figure and unfastened his top shirt buttons. He needed to relax or at least make it seem like he was. He finally took a seat across from Cody, squinting as he sat under the swinging blinding light above them. He waited a minute before speaking. To find the right words...

"I don't want to be here." He stared at Cody, startled that he had been the first to speak but eager that he did none the less. Cody raised his head from the table and looked at Randy with the saddest pools of blue Randy had ever seen. He almost shook and shivered under the gaze but willed himself to keep calm. This was the time to show he was the one in control. He straightened up and leaned on the table, arms crossed over one another as he stared back at Cody.

"Then why are you?" Randy finally retorted.

"Your men forced me to!" Cody yelled angrily.

"Because you murdered someone." Randy chuckled matter -of- factly.

"It's... I didn't...it wasn't like that," Cody angrily growled, looking away from Randy to the floor.

"Then tell me how it was, Cody! People aren't going to look at you like this and give some type of pity unless you tell them what it was. I can't go out there before the court and lie for you until I know the truth. What happened?" Cody put his head back down but Randy asserted himself and grabbed the wrist of Cody's that wasn't chained down. He yanked Cody and, with the other hand, jerked Cody's head up to look at him. "Tell...me."

Cody's bottom lip began to quiver a bit and he bit down into it to cease the shaking. He swallowed hard. "I didn't kill Maryse Oullette." He shook his head sadly.

"Then who did, Cody? The blood's on your hands here. What do you know?" Randy released Cody's wrist and with the other hand stroked Cody's arm reassuringly. "I'm only here to help."

"T...Ted and I were..." Cody couldn't get the words out. Randy read the lips perfectly and when Cody stopped he motioned forward with his hand.

"You and Ted were...?"

"Ted and I were...lo..." Cody swallowed once more and clenched his eyes shut before finally letting the words drop from his soft lips. "Lovers...Ted and I were once lovers." He blushed but let out a sigh of relief. He looked up to Randy, waiting for some type of reaction and Randy gave him just that.

"You're gay?" Randy asked bluntly and nonchalantly. Cody nodded and looked towards the floor. Randy quickly snatched him up by his chin. "Listen kid, you've got nothing to be shamed of. You pick your head up. I'm Bi myself." Randy smirked at the curious look from the smaller young man as he sat back in his chair, arms crossed. "Your preferences are the least of our worries."

Cody pulled away, "But that's why I'm in this mess! If I didn't...if I hadn't messed around with Ted then..." he stopped and chewed his lip.

Randy met his gaze. "...Tell me how to save you Cody."

Cody rubbed his eyes and swallowed hard. "...November 10th of last year. I was out at the local bar when some rich, young, gorgeous blonde asks me for a ride to his hotel. I took him home and we hit it off like that. Ted and I dated for months on end until I found out he had a girlfriend." Cody huffed and looked towards the opposite wall. "That went over well with me."

"So you stayed with him?"

"Please," Cody retorted angrily, "Cody Rhodes doesn't share. I broke it off with him and I hadn't seen him since. Then out of nowhere a week ago, he comes to my house and asks if I can keep a secret."

Randy nodded, "What kind of secret?" He eased more into the chair, closer to Cody.

"I...He told me that Maryse was gone. I mean- We could be together again." Cody closed his eyes and sighed. "The stains on his shirt...the look in his eyes... I just knew what happened. I knew he murdered Maryse."

Randy quirked a brow. "So if he wanted to be with you so much, why blame you for the murder? You'd be behind bars. He wouldn't even get to see you."

"I told him we were done!" Cody shot back. "I mean...I still love Ted but he cheated on me and killed someone. I was already facing some depression issues and I just didn't want to be involved in anyone anyway."

Randy nodded. "I get it...but you said you had some depression problems. Your medical records don't show any of that."

Cody ruffled his hand through his hair. "It probably wouldn't. It was only about three weeks ago that this happened. You can check my doctors if you want but he just up and told me I had it. I don't know...I just knew I wasn't feeling right." Cody passed Randy over a card after shuffling around in his pocket for a second. "I've gotten better but I'm still...off at times."

Randy shoved the card in his pocket and turned back to Cody. He smiled. "Well that'll be it for today, Mr. Rhodes. I'm glad you actually let me talk with you. Now I can clearly see you are indeed a victim here." Randy slipped a key from his back pocket and crouched down to unlock the cuff restraining the delicate wrist of the slender brunette. He slowly massaged the slightly reddened wrists and kissed Cody's hand. "You really are cute, Cody."

Cody blushed and pulled his hand away. "You're my lawyer...and I..."

Randy laughed and placed a soft kiss on Cody's forehead. "I'm just saying, they could've treated you a little more gentle getting you here. No reason to be so rough." He patted Cody's back and motioned him towards the door. "The officers will escort you home and I'll call you tomorrow to discuss some legal matters on your part." He held the door and helped Cody out. He grabbed his hand. "Thanks so much Codes. I promise I'll win this."

Cody blushed once more and ran out the room. Randy chuckled to himself and kept his smile as Edge shuffled into the room. "So?"

Randy grinned, "Got him."

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><p>Well this was just a short idea. I may not write anymore but this just popped up there!<p> 


	2. Chapter 2

Well...i didnt really think i was going to be writing more to this but it was asked so i just had to. Hope it's good as expected! Lets do this!

(((Thanks a bunch for the awesome review Takers Dark Lover, Centon4Eva, and FansofCenaton)))

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><p>John leaned back in his chair and lifted his head. He was going to win this, no sweat. He laughed to himself. The simplicity of the whole situation was mind numbing and yet the effort he saw his opponent putting into this was exhilarating. Randy Orton. The guy was so predictable. John knew Randy was probably trying to find some type of confession out of the Rhodes kid but that was only going to make things much harder for everyone; especially Cody. The kid was already stressed and mentally unstable to some degree. This extra would lead to somewhere it doesn't need to go but that's the justice system for you. Just in the instance, his phone rang. He grinned at the number before answering, "Dibiase? What's up?"<p>

"I heard they got Cody to talk to them…" Ted sounded flat and yet the nervousness was a bit evident in his tone.

John chuckled lowly. "Yeah. But that doesn't even matter. Nothing he tells them is going to make this any different."

"I guess you're right…," Ted sounded a bit more confident.

"Hey, be careful alright? I'm sure Orton's going to send his crime lab cronies down there to question you. If things get out of hand just stop answering them. Remember, you don't have to answer anything without me present." Cena sternly stated.

Ted nodded. "I gotcha." Ted hung up the phone. He slipped it back into his pocket and went over to the now being beat upon front door. A blonde and a raven haired stood there looking up into the sky. Ted saw the sun glint off their badges and knew that these must've been the cops John warned him of so he prepared himself.

Ted opened the door of his swank summer home and grinned sleazily as he welcomed the two detectives in. "Gentlemen, can I help you?"

The two looked from one another back to Ted, the taller man crossing his arms over his chest. "I'm detective Phil and this is my partner Chris." The blonde man waved his hand slightly and proceeded further into the home, taking a good look around. Phil looked over Ted for a moment just as Chris did the house. This guy looked guilty. The officer snorted and barged in. "If you don't mind, we're here to ask you a few questions."

Ted shrugged, "Of course. What do you want to know? Come," He motioned for the men to follow him into the living room and have a seat on the couch. "Ask away."

Chris raised an eyebrow and chuckled as he shook his head. "Well Ted, your wife is dead; you don't seem upset by any means."

Ted ruffled his hair. "I am really but honestly, everyone knew Maryse and I weren't really married."

Phil leaned forward a little, "What do you mean by that?"

"Our whole wedding, the marriage, the relationship; it was all a sham. Maryse's family needed money and daddy insisted I marry her. That's it really. I can't say I cared for her."

"And yet you cared for Rhodes?" Chris rubbed his stubble.

Ted laughed, "Yeah, I did."

Phil snorted in disbelief, "Please. You wanted revenge on the kid as soon as he broke it off with you."

"I mean- of course I was a little upset when the love of my life left me but who wouldn't be a little angered or distraught? I didn't want to hurt him though." Ted stated plainly.

"You're right. You didn't want to hurt him, you wanted to hurt what drove him away from you, huh? That wife of yours ,right?" Chris smirked knowingly.

Ted sighed, "What exactly are you getting at officers? Insisting that I killed Maryse? How pointless. If that's where you're heading, I'll just stop cooperating right here. I'm not letting you trick me into saying some incriminating statement."

"Only the weak of mind get tricked," Phil smiled. He turned to the folder he held in his jacket and glanced into it before looking back up to Ted. "We'll move on. Ted, who knew Maryse Ouellette?"

Ted searched for the words. "I couldn't tell you who knew her personally. I wasn't around her like that unless it was a photo-shoot for 'the million dollar couple' or what have you. Didn't talk to me about how her day was or where she went. I know she went partying with some guy name Mike on a regular basis but to where is a mystery. We were complete strangers in our home." Ted sighed and stood up to pace around the seat he was in. "I'll tell you what I do know, though; Maryse was planning on leaving me soon."

Chris quirked his brow, "Oh yeah?

"Yeah. Read it in her diary. Said she found a richer man. They apparently had been meeting in the park for a while now but that's the only place I know she definitely goes. He's Hispanic from what she wrote." Ted folded his arms and stared at the detectives. "But that's all I got for you, period. I'm not saying anything else."

Chris and Phil looked to one another and then to Ted, "We'll be back before you know it. You have a good day, Jr." They rose and left the home.

Phil and Chris sat on the park bench, watching and waiting. The guy that Maryse was supposedly seeing was named Alberto Del Rio; Hispanic, around 6'3, and a very wealthy business man in the automotive industry. He was well known and among the richest men in the city. The guy came over to America after inheriting the family business and money and ran with it, doubling all he had and capitalizing on his opportunity in the business world. Alberto was recalled by many people living in the area as coming to the park everyday just for a walk. He was never seemingly there for any particular reason except the aesthetic feel of the place. Phil yawned and was abruptly pushed to his feet by Chris as the newly acquired potential suspect strode into the park with another man.

Chris took the first step and allowed his partner to knock the sleep from his weary red eyes. He confidently held up his badge to Alberto, "You Del Rio, right?"

Alberto grinned pricelessly, "Is there a problem, officer?" His accent was thick, nearly making his question hard to understand.

Chris put his badge away into his back pocket, finding the man to be no threat. Considering how sharply dressed he was wearing his white suit and scarf, there wasn't even a chance that this guy could hurt him. "No problem, sir but I do want answers."

"What is wrong?" Alberto shrugged. "A speeding ticket, jury duty, anything like that- because I'll pay the fine. No problem." He smiled wider if possible.

"Uh no," Chris flashed a fake and quick smile before folding his arms. "No, nothing like that but Alberto, what do you know about Maryse Ouellette?" When Alberto showed no signs of recognition on his face Chris held up a photo from his jacket. "This girl, what do you know about this girl?"

Worry suddenly marred the handsome Hispanics face. "Nothing. I don't know anything about her."

Chris rolled his eyes. "Look, this girl is dead and I don't have time for games." He sighed. "Now some say they say you and her around here in the park a few times. Care to explain that?"

Alberto shook his head. "I don't know her but I know she likes me. When I come to this park sometimes, she'll come and talk to me. I knew she only wanted my money so I flirted a little and left her alone. She wasn't my type and I don't really care for blondes anyway." Chris shifted on his feet and cleared his throat. "No offense." Chris nodded and held his hands up, playfully backing away.

"So did you know she was married?"

"No," Alberto blurted out. "She never wore a ring. I'm telling you; I didn't know anything about her."

Chris ran a hand through his hair, "Alberto, you know the million dollar man?"

Alberto's smile came back, "Of course. Who doesn't know about Mr. Dibiase?"

"Well she was married to his son."

Alberto's face nearly dropped, "Are you kidding me? There's no way…" He was speechless for a moment but soon regained his voice. "No comprende esta…I don't understand why she'd want to leave him then. The money I have doesn't even come close to the Dibiase fortune."

Chris looked over the contemplating Alberto once more before letting out a deep breath. "I don't understand either… Well thank you again for your time, Mr. Del Rio."

Alberto saluted and was about to walk away when Phil came over and stopped him. "Hey, if you don't mind me asking, who's that?" He pointed to the other black-haired male locking arms with Alberto. He was smaller and just as sleep deprived looking as Phil himself.

Alberto laughed, "Esta es mi novio; he is my boyfriend, Ricardo. He doesn't speak English so well and he's a little weak after a truck driver hit him a while ago." Alberto squeezed Ricardo closer to his side and smiled at him. "But he's getting better. I'm taking him to the movies later so we're making our way across town."

Phil looked at him skeptically, "A car salesman without a car?"

"I can't decide between all fifty of them so I walk instead." Alberto winked to Phil and strutted on about his way.

The detective chuckled and went over to his blonde partner. "That get you anywhere? Or is Dibiase leading us in circles?"

"He said Maryse was leaving him for a richer guy but no Hispanic person around here is richer than the Dibiase's."

"So the whole diary story falls short."

Chris dragged out an irritated sigh, "Why can't people make our job easy? Just once?"

Phil again chuckled. "I feel ya but then it wouldn't be nearly half the fun. C'mon, let's go find this other guy Ted mentioned."

Down in the more urban part of the city, the detectives came upon the door of Mike A.K.A "The Miz". The guy was a night club owner running one of the classiest places around. The brunette had a swank mansion and from all the emblems he had of himself on the lawn, they knew he was conceited so they prepared themselves for the worst. They rang the doorbell and listened as heavy footstep approached them. Seconds later they were greeted by the innocently friendly face of a tall brunette in what appeared to be a butlers attire. The young guy smiled. "Can I help you?"

Chris looked at his partner, signaling for Phil to take this one. Phil held up his badge. "Is Mike here?"

The young man opened the door more and welcomed them in. "Uh yeah, he's in his study but I'll call him down if you," He was interrupted.

"You should take us up to him."

The brunette blinked and shrugged, "Um sure." They followed the man through the spectacle that was The Miz's house and gaped at everything that was within. The guy knew how to live. Soon they drew near a door and the butler opened it very gently and slow. "Excuse me, Miz, sir, there are some men here to see you."

"What do they want, Alex?" Miz seemed to be stressed by the way he slumped in his desk chair. "I'm a little busy here and you know that I don't like to be bothered with when I'm busy."

"I know sir, I'm sorry but they're officers." Alex pleaded.

Miz quickly jerked around and fixed his gaze on the men. "Detectives?" Phil and Chris nodded and flashed their badges before putting them away. Mike twitched and turned to Alex. "Go play for a little while, Alex. I've got it from here."

Alex nodded and bowed his head before leaving. Then Phil laughed. "Wow."

"What do you want me for?" Miz snarled.

"Is he a minor?"

"I said, what do you want?"

"Awful cute like one."

"WHAT. DO. YOU. WANT?" Miz jumped up angrily. "I am a very busy man!"

Chris put a hand up. "Easy there. We weren't hostile to you were we?" Miz huffed and sat back down. "Good. I'm detective Chris and this is my partner Phil. We just want a little information that's all."

Miz looked between the two of them. "About what?"

"Your girl, Maryse." Phil stated bluntly.

It was like Mike broke down from there. He froze and closed his eyes tightly. "Oh gosh…"

"So you heard, huh?"

Mike put his head in his hands. "I was one of the first to hear and I saw the pictures. So much blood…everywhere…" Mike was shaking now. "I haven't slept in days. When I close my eyes I see her beautiful face so….contorted." the last word slipped past with such disgust it was almost tasted.

Chris rubbed his arm. "Who do you think…?"

Miz sneered angrily, "She told me she was leaving him and planning to take all his money. I knew when he got whiff of it he would freak out but…her husband had to have done it. I don't doubt that's who killed her. That Son of a…! I hate it!" Mike pulled his brown tresses hard. "I tried to help her I did. I told her she could run away with me and Alex. I told her we could start all over but…"

"She didn't want that…did she?" Phil walked over and patted Mike's back. The guy was shaking with tears threatening to fall from his eyes.

"I wasn't well enough off for her so I had to sideline and be the supportive friend and look at her now…" Mike sighed and shook his head. "Look at her now."

"You can still support her," Chris threw out there.

"How?"

"Just tell me; Do you know Cody Rhodes?"

The name snapped for Miz, "Y-Yeah. I saw him with Ted all the time a year ago. That's how I found out and told Maryse how Ted was cheating on her. It's when she started looking for someone new. She didn't have a problem with him though. When she found out and told him, there wasn't any bad blood. They were very civil towards one another Ted was the only one who made a big deal out of it."

"Anybody at your nightclub may know Cody personally? "

Miz thought, "Well I guess the bartender…yes, Drew might. The kid came in so many times that Drew had to have gotten to know him."

"Alright," Phil nodded. "Um…I think that's it. We'll be reporting back to the lab now." He ruffled Miz's hair a bit. "Mike, don't blame yourself for what happened. Really…"

Miz swiped at his eyes and inhaled deeply, exhaling and fluttering his wet lids open. "Don't worry, I don't. I don't."

At that moment the young butler from earlier came in with a tray of tea time goodies. He sat the tray down and, with the final goodbye's given, he escorted the detectives out.

Mike pulled out a picture and ran his hands over it shakily. Softly spoken words, "I'll make it better, my sweet…sweet…Maryse."

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><p>Hope it was worth the wait! Reviews are greatly appreciated! Thanks for reading!<p> 


	3. Chapter 3

Alright! i know how i want this one to go! im definately gonna have another update on it before the week is out...i hope ^^;. Thank you everyone who reviewed! This one's for you :D

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><p>"Gentlemen, what can I get you?" Chris and Phil smiled up at the charming Scotsman of a bartender. Drew McIntyre. It didn't seem like it would be too hard to wrangle some type information from him He actually seemed kind of friendly.<p>

"A little Canadian Grey Goose," Chris tipped his hat.

"Coming right up." Drew turned around and instinctively reached for the desired drink from his cabinet. "You know, we're one of the only night clubs around to actually have the stuff," He polished off the bottle and began to pour it as he spoke. He slid the Champaign class over to the blonde and then turned to his partner. "And for you sir?"

"Cherry coke," detective Phil plainly said.

Drew drew in a breath as he thought and looked over the assortment of beverages in the cabinet. Phil only chuckled. He already knew it was going to be nearly impossible for the man to find any non-alcoholic beverage in the place, let alone cherry coke. He however, was impressed when the man instead reached under the counter and pulled out the request, lightly pouring it on some ice and passing it over. "I always keep something for me to drink in my mini fridge. I'm not a real drinker."

"How generous." Phil eyed his partner, who only raised an eyebrow and laughed forming bubbles as he took a shot of his Goose. He swallowed it down.

"McIntyre…" Drew focused in on Chris as his name was called. "I wanna ask you a few questions." Drew looked at him curiously and Chris pulled out his badge. "How's about we take a little break?"

The Scott's eyes bulged and he swallowed hard. "Wh…why?"

"Just come with us," Phil rose and began to walk out the back door. The other two followed.

As they stood outside, the cold September air bit them. Drew was breathing into his hands as he leaned against the door. Phil and Chris looked over a few files and took out a recorder. After a button- that could only be inferred as the record button- was hit, Phil sized him up. "Tell me something about Cody, Drew."

Drew looked up from his hands and his eyes darted all over before he sighed. "Something like what?"

Phil shifted on his feet. "He a regular customer of yours, McIntyre?"

"Yeah. What about it? He isn't in any trouble is he?" Drew had overwhelming emotion pouring from his eyes. His connection to Cody was evident now.

"So that's what's going on, huh?" Phil asked in a sing-songy way. "You and Rhodes were…you know…"

"No!" Drew's cheeks turned a bright crimson under the accusation and he furiously shook his head, denying it. Once he had calmed he looked at the two again. "I mean we know each other but not like that."

"Well what is it that you know?" Phil persisted once more.

Drew sighed and looked everywhere he could before letting his gaze fall back down to the questioners. "Late October- last year, I mean…" He searched for the memory. "…He walks up and asks for Mississippi Moon Shine. And I remember hearing his lisp and laughing. He blushed and apologized for it and I told him I actually thought it was cute. He smiled and introduced himself and I did the same. He got his drink and left…" Drew faded into the memory and gazed at what seemed to be nothing.

Phil snapped his fingers, drawing him back. "But then…?"

"He came back; all the time. We would talk and talk and talk for hours especially on the slow days until he ultimately had to go. There were times when he'd stay till I got off of work, and he'd drive me home but then there were other times when he'd be drunk and I'd drive him home. It was a mutual friendship." Drew finished.

"Any time you two ever got into an altercation?" Chris butted in.

"No," Drew quickly added. "Nothing violent or anything like that. Well this one time…"He ran a hand through his hair, "As Cody's friend I worry about him like any good friend should. Sometime early November, he started getting all snobby and stuck up; claiming to be priceless and 'dashing'." Drew made air quotes and shook his head. "I mean, I'm all for self-confidence but he took it too far. Anyway, I told him 'Cody, you need to calm down. I don't know what's been going on with you and your boy toy but you need to cool it.' He told me to mind my own and he just never spoke to me after that."

"Now, was this out of jealousy or true concern?" Chris nearly laughed out, adding a little humor to the situation.

"A little of jealousy at first, yes!" Drew all but yelled, "But…then I really did get concerned."

Phil raised his head, "Oh?"

Drew nodded, "Yeah. Cody, his boyfriend, and his boyfriend's wife had a huge fight in the middle of the dance floor. They were yelling and screaming but then Mike came out-"

"Miz?" Phil interrupted.

"Yeah. He eased everyone down and took them to a back room. They all came out cool and easy like nothing happened. I was really concerned then so the next few weeks, I paid close attention to their conversations and everything. Every week -it almost seemed- Mike, Cody, I think his name was Ted, and Maryse I believe… would come and hang out together. It seemed cool, even though the Ted guy was obviously cheating."

"Let's back this up a little," Chris wound his fingers in a backwards motion. "Did Cody meet Ted at this bar?"

"On a regular basis, yes."

"No I mean like first time ever meeting him."

"No," Drew shook his head as if that was the most ridiculous thing he had ever heard. "Not at all. He met him before he met me."

Chris nodded, "Okay. You get anything out of them worth telling recently?"

Drew held up his finger as if the thing he was going to say was on the tip of it. "Something about cutting keys for the four of them. That was all I heard before business got busy and I had to get back to work."

"When'd you hear this?"

"About a week ago."

Chris and Phil exchanged glances, "…Thanks McIntyre. If you don't mind, we'd like to ask you to testify as a witness for a court case we're having." Phil slipped Drew some papers and he and his partner began to walk away.

"Case? For what? You never told me what happened!" Drew yelled, trying to catch them.

Chris turned back, "Cody's getting charged for the murder of Maryse Ouellette."

The men could almost feel the way Drew sunk and looked on disbelievingly as the headliner hit him but they were unfazed because it was true; in cases like these, everyone gets hurt somehow.

"What? That piece of trash _lied_ to _me_?" Randy was livid. He had just got the report of the two detectives findings only moments ago and after hearing everything, he was about to blow.

Phil held his hands up, "Clam down, Randy. I mean, Dibiase lied too." He pointed towards the one way mirror. "We know the truth and now you have to get him to tell the truth." Cody was just on the other side having a conversation with Edge.

"No," Randy angrily spat out, "I'm not defending him! I refuse to! No one sits up and lies in my face and thinks that I'm going to help them get over!" He shoved some papers onto the ground and banged his fists on the table.

"And to think you called him cute the other day," Edge nervously laughed, strolling out the room.

Randy huffed, "Perish the thought." He began to frantically pace back and forth, as if he wanted nothing more than to hurt something or someone.

"Randy, he was scared. This is the kid's first felony and I'm sure he was nervous." Edge tried to sooth.

"Now you know more than anybody, I hate to be lied to-especially when I'm on your side. I'm his lawyer! I'm supposed to be for him and the kid lied to me!" Randy yelled.

"And that's why he did it; _he's just a kid, Randy_. Consider this; as a child if you were to break something, normally you'd try to clean it up yourself and when asked about it you either deny or partially give what happened to keep from getting in trouble. Cody's in that mindset. He left out any details that he thought would incriminate him." Edge finished. Phil and Chris looked on, intrigued by the explanation. Randy grumbled and sighed. He was still pretty mad but now he needed to clean it up and get the truth.

He rushed into the room with the brunette on trial. The kid was cute but since he had got the new information, he just couldn't look at him the same. He hid his mild distaste and sat down. "Hey Codes. Look, how's about we skip the formalities and get to the meat, huh?"

Cody only nodded. "So, am I signing some papers or…what's on the agenda for today?"

"Well…" Randy took some of the papers on the desk and shuffled them into a neat pile very calmly and slowly. When the room fell silent and he was sure Cody's attention was solely on him, he threw the papers onto the floor and jumped to his feet, knocking back the chair with a loud clatter and making Cody yelp in shock. He slammed his fists into the wooden table and eased sharply to Cody's face, the young brunette's startled and shaky breath dancing across his repulsed face. "You're gonna start telling me the truth, Cody."

"But I-" He jumped as Randy's fist slammed down onto the wood once more.

"Bull!" He wrapped his fist in the collar of Cody's sweater. "If you don't tell me the truth right now- and I do mean the whole truth- I will walk away and let the jury eat. You. Alive." Each word punctuated as Randy jerked Cody forward by his shirt. After a few long moment of silence, Cody sighed, giving Randy a sign to release him. He sat back down and leaned back, crossing his legs. "You never stopped seeing Ted, did you?"

Cody looked up, frightened at the piercing gaze on him before closing his eyes and shaking his head. "No."

"And you already knew that gorgeous blonde before you supposedly met him at Mike's club, didn't you?"

"Now I never said I met him at the club!" Cody interjected shakily, not sure if at any moment Randy was going to snap. "I just said he asked me for a ride home and we hit it off that night."

The lawyer's jaw tightened as he twitched and Cody decided to button his lips. "Where did you meet him then?"

Cody sighed and put his hand on his forehead. "Two months before I ever even went to that club on Raw."

"What?" Randy quirked a brow.

"Raw. It's an underground wrestling promotion here in the inner city. They have another one on the city's outskirts called Smack down." Cody confessed reluctantly.

Randy snarled, "That makes more sense. So you rolled around with him in trunks and fell hard?"

"No but-"

"You have an attraction to married men?"

"No. I mean-"

"Oh, his daddy runs the promotion and you just wanted to get ahead, huh?

"It wasn't like that!" Cody yelled disbelievingly at the accusation.

"Don't raise your voice at me, boy!" Randy shouted- louder perhaps than Cody.

Cody slumped and threw his hands over his face. Moments later, he drew a deep breath and swiped at his eyes. "It wasn't like that at all."

"Then I'll ask you like I did at first," Randy smoothed his anger over to his initial calm demeanor that was present during Cody's first interview at the station, "How was it?"

Cody's lip quivered as he spoke. "Me and Ted were an exclusive tag team on Raw for a while and…we wanted to, you know…really get to know one another so we could tag together successfully. We did everything together for a while. I mean, we ate out. We went to the park. We exercised together." Cody fondly reminisced. "But our team was broken up long before we really got started."

"Any reason why?"

"Higher ups say that it was best that we both try to work on our individual careers but even we knew we weren't ready yet. Then they sent us to different wrestling promotions and that locker room devoured me. I couldn't get anywhere without a push. I didn't know anyone, I had just started out, I was confused, and no one wanted to deal with me…!" Cody pulled at his hair and sighed. He pinched the bridge of his nose. "This wasn't just some split by chance; somebody wanted this. I just knew it."

"Who wanted it?" The lawyer folded his arms, "Maryse?"

"Oh no!" Cody almost jokingly shook his head yet anger was present in his tone. "You wanna know who wanted this? It was Ted Dibiase Sr. who wanted this!"

Randy's face twisted in confusion. "Ted's dad? How'd he find out?"

The brunette huffed and slumped in his chair. "He comes down to the place every so often. He's always giving donations; you know, helping with funds or whatever for appearances and his reputation. He _is_ the million dollar man of course and Ted's the million dollar boy. Ted and I weren't together but… "

"Now I see," The attorney began to piece the puzzle together. "He figured it wouldn't sell publicly for his son to be with another man."

"But we weren't even together like that!" Cody interrupted sadly. He soon realized his outburst and shrank back to his seat. "At least not yet anyways…"

"With political figures like him, you have to realize it's all about appearance. He was more than likely trying to oppress anything that could even remotely expose his son's preferences." Randy tried to soothe. Somehow his resolve to be stern was broken as the younger man poured his heart out. He hated how soft he went for tragic love. "Is he the reason Ted and Maryse were married, too?"

Cody nodded and bit his lip. "But it wasn't really the fact that I'm a man that made him say I wasn't supposed to be with Ted. Apparently, I'm not upper class material." He sneered. "My Dad was the son of a plumber and even though he's one of the wealthiest comedians around, I'm still nothing more than the son of the son of a plumber."

"That's politics in upper class for you," Randy sighed heavily. He couldn't even understand what Cody felt about that. He was always at least lower upper class. Never middle, never lower. He rubbed the back of his neck feeling uncomfortable. "So…tell me about Maryse. You and she knew…"

"We didn't get along like friends. We put up with one another for Teddy's sake. But how could I not resent her? I mean, she had what she knew I never could."

"Ted," Randy stated.

Cody threw his hands up. "Bingo. And she wasn't afraid to flaunt that fact. Ted did keep her for appearances but I had his heart! I was better for him! So much better for him…" Cody wiped at his eyes again as sobs made some of his words uncomprehend able. He covered his forehead with his hands and tried to compose himself. "Do you know how much it hurts to see him taking someone who he couldn't care less about to all the red carpets events and photo shoots and exotic getaways? It's frustrating!"

Pleading pools of blue connected with Randy's grey orbs and he could only lower his gaze. "Cody I…" he was saved by the bell when there came a knock on the door. Immediately he stood to his feet and strolled over. It was John. "What are you doing here?" He almost growled but he kept it at a hushed tone.

"Yo, I need to talk to you. This can't wait." Randy and John looked back at Cody who seemed to be in his own little world of despair. Randy nodded and exited the room, still monitoring his client through the window.

"Now what is it, Cena? And this better be good."

"I can guarantee it will," a young man paraded over a bit timidly.

Randy immediately recognized the boy. "Josh?" He sunk a little, "If you're here…" When the young crime scene investigator came onto the scene instead of staying behind it, things always got more complicated. "What is it, now?"

Josh bit his lip and put his arms behind his back, rocking on the balls of his feet. "You're not going to like it one bit but…" He stopped rocking and pulled out a folder from out of a duffel bag he had been carrying. "Me and some of the other guys went back to check the scene again after we got a call from Phil and Chris." Randy turned to the aforementioned fellows and they tipped their hats. The tired looks on their face told him that they had already heard this and it wasn't going to be anything he wanted to hear.

Josh continued, "Well, we're having another autopsy done on the body but in the house; it was concluded that the victim had been stabbed many times. Blood was left all over the scene and it was gruesome, right?" He held up a small test tube full of some type of fluid from his pocket. "But we found this in the carpet and on the walls." He held up another tube of fluid, "And we found this too."

Randy squinted as he scanned the material. "What is that?"

"Cleaning solution." Josh straightened his glasses. "We found light traces everywhere around the scene."

Randy blinked for a moment, "…forgive me if I'm not following but what is this all supposed to mean?"

Josh put the samples down and picked up a photo of the crime scene. "Well, as you can see in the photo, the blood was left on the floors and other places after the stabbing, right? But the two solutions we found were mixed with blood, meaning someone else tried to clean up their mess. Then one's been setting in longer than th other so It's like one person murdered her, cleaned up and left. Then the next one comes in, stabs her, cleans up and leaves. And the last one stabs her a few times and leaves the blood; forget the cleanup. "

His eyebrows arched in critical thought as he assessed everything. Suddenly,Randy gasped as he had an epiphany on the whole of the situation. "If that's the case then there wasn't just one killer…there were…three?"

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><p>It'll make more sense later, just keep following!<p> 


	4. Chapter 4

Here we go again! One more chapter left for this episode!

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><p>John ran a shaky hand through his hair but even for as shocked as he was when he heard it, Randy was even worse. The man hadn't spoken since. He just sat in his chair, eyes focused on nothing but the air in front of him. He necked craned at an odd angle whilst he tried to calculate what exactly went on. The lawyers looked to one another finally, "Randy…what are we doing here?"<p>

Randy slowly looked away and locked his fingers over his stomach, shaking his head. "…I don't know…"

"I've scheduled another court date in two days. You know judge Taker doesn't like rescheduling but with the new evidence…what other choice did he have?"

Randy didn't give any type of reaction as he still sat in the same spot. Slowly his mouth opened. "Three killers…? But how?"

"Well, Josh says that the girl was dead for three hours before we actually got there. Whoever these three guys are, they must have been in there one after another. And if the first cleaned up, they probably didn't even know she was really dead. It's like poking a dead body with a stick."

A hand was placed atop Randy's head. "Alright fine. That's a fair assessment sure but what three people could've…?" As John dropped his head, Randy caught on to exactly _why_ John was there in the first place. He seemed to catch on to everything much slower today. The evidence against Cody was clear but he should've known the other was, "Dibiase, right?"

John inhaled deeply, "Gave me a confession as soon as he saw Josh come in with the cleaning samples. He said he just couldn't take it anymore; didn't want her around at all and wanted to be with Codes. He went out earlier and told her he'd be back late and he stayed out for a while. Says he waited till eleven at night. Saw her on the couch and ran through her a few times. Cleaned everything up and left out. I couldn't believe it. Blubbered like a whale all over my shirt and said it was him all along, not Cody."

Randy nodded and John patted his shoulder. "Now you gotta get a clean confession out of Rhodes. We have evidence but we'd do better in court if we get a confession." Randy nodded again and John stood to move out the room and over to Edge and the two detectives. "You know, I was willing to fight but it looks like we'll have to settle it out this time for the sake of justice, Orton. This thing is bigger than some rivalry, wouldn't ya say?" John smiled and left, causing Randy to put a momentary look of disgust on his face. It was amazing how arrogant the two faced jerk could be. One minute he's talking all this big trash, the next he's Randy's partner in crime. He opted to forget any retort that came to mind and roll his eyes.

Sitting in his chair for a moment, Randy closed his eyes. He had trusted Cody and don't get him wrong, the kid was adorable but he seemed to be a lot more trouble than he was worth. This whole deal was a lot of trouble but hey, he was a problem solver. Now how to trick this kid into talking? He rose to his feet and strolled back into the interrogation room with his client, taking a seat. He put a bright smile on his face, causing Cody to flinch a little. "Are you okay? What just happened? Where'd you go?"

Randy waved his hand away, "Oh nowhere. I was just talking to Ted's lawyer. Found out he confessed that he was the one who killed Maryse. See, you're Scott free!"

Cody twitched involuntarily, "What? What do you mean he…"

"Yeah, said he wanted to go to trial with his confession and a little proof and see where he'll wind up."

"No, that can't be right…" Cody stammered out lowly.

Randy arched his eyebrow, "And why not?"

"I mean, Ted couldn't have! He loved her!"

"Oh? But you just told me that you had his heart…"

Cody jumped, "No! I mean he needed her for his appearance!" Cody almost didn't give out due to how jittery he was getting. "He didn't want to make his dad mad!"

"Apparently you were more important to him then his appearance and father," Randy calmly stated. He could tell he was getting to the young man by the way his eyes would dart everywhere as he thought of what to say. "Look, don't worry. He's only going away for some 25 years…minimum." He shrugged nonchalantly and stood to leave when the fair skin boy grabbed his shirt sleeve and jerked him back towards him.

"No! Please don't let them take Ted! I…" Cody dropped his head and gulped, the sound resounding in the quiet and still room. "…I was sick of waiting." He sobbed, softly "She said she was going to leave but she never would. I kept waiting and waiting, day after day, month after month; but she always made some excuse to stick around. So I waited until midnight and she was just lying there on the couch and I… I slashed her up. But then when I realized what I did, I got scared so I ran to one of Ted's other homes that I knew he would be in if he wasn't there with her. I told him what I had done and that I was willing to take the fall for it because I knew his daddy would be mad if he found out. He said he was going to wait for me and pay off the prison to shorten my sentence; come visit me every day to make things easier." Cody gripped the shirt harder. "It was me the whole time…not Ted." Cody waited for something; a gasp, a punch, anything but he looked up into the eyes of his lawyer and those greys spoke louder than any voice ever could.

"So he knew all along and he was protecting you, huh?" Randy rubbed his chin. "…Ted said the same exact thing but," He stood straight up and stretched himself to his full height. "Actually, it was neither of you who really killed her."

Cody jerked his head straight up. "W-what do you..? Teddy went and…huh?"

"She was dead an hour before Ted supposedly went in and killed her and two hours before you did. Someone else took her out."

"I don't get it…You mean when I went in she was-,"

"Already dead? Yes." Randy rubbed his neck and cracked it. "So you two can't really go in for murder but I guess more so premeditated murder. Luckily you won't have Breaking and Entering added onto your rap sheet seeing as how Ted cut you a key to the house, right?" Cody looked up at him before sadly nodding. "Thought so. That kid was a good tip off by the way…Guess I really got you this time, Rhodes." He stared down at the broken brunette still gripping his shirt and he reluctantly embraced him as Cody let the tears he'd been holding in fall. Randy cursed himself for being such a softie sometimes. He softly patted his head and whispered, "C'mon, you're a big boy Cody. You're not a little kid. We gotta go now so get it together. Ted's waiting for ya." He felt Cody nod and they slowly made their way out of the interrogation room.

As soon as the door was open Cody was embraced tightly by his love, Ted. The two men cried on one another's shoulders and their lawyers couldn't help but look on at the tender moment. Some things you just have to feel sorry for and right now, the two young men were one of them.

"They really were just kids," Cena drank his coffee at his desk; Randy, Edge, Chris, and Phil accompanying him. "I kind of feel bad for 'em."

"Yeah, me too but what can you really do?" Chris stuffed a doughnut in his mouth.

"Follow the law and play by society's rules." Randy grossly spat.

"I suppose so…" Edge leaned back in his chair and sighed. "Lifestyles of the rich and the famous as they say. Let's get back to the matter at hand though, huh? What are we looking at?"

"Right," Chris wiped off his hands and his mouth before sitting up straight in his chair and crossing his legs over, also folding his arms. That was his thinking pose. "So we have two of the three killers and one is still at large but who is it? There weren't any signs of break in so it had to be someone she trusted, someone she knew."

"No one knows who she knew. Dibiase and McIntyre only say they saw her with Cody, themselves, or Miz…" Phil and Chris slapped themselves in the head only moments later. "Are we really trying to figure this one out? Hello! They all got a key right? Mike was no exception, especially because she trusted him the most."

"Miz," Cena looked curious. "You mean the nightclub owner? He's in this too?"

Phil nodded, "Oh yeah. Says that he wanted Maryse to run away with him but she refused because he wasn't well enough off."

"As one of the most well-known nightclub owners in the area, that's bound to offend a guy like him, right?" Chris added.

"I'd think so," Phil scratched his head. "And even when he exposed Ted for a cheater and she went looking for someone else, she overlooked him. Maybe he just wanted some attention and was willing to _kill_ for it." The word play was not overlooked by the rest of the men.

"Well we better go check that out then, huh?" Randy rose tiredly to his feet and began to stroll away, the others coming up in a hurry.

"Wait," Ted called out from one of the cells behind them, Cody glued to his waist.

Cena turned on his heels, "What's up, princess?"

"Where are you going now?" He asked curiously almost frightened.

"To go find the real killer." Randy interrupted any answer John was going to give.

"Anything you can tell to help us like who all had a key to your house? There was no sign of a break in so it had to be someone with a key." Cena cooed nurturing, hoping to get what he needed out of the two.

"Well, the only other people with one besides Cody and me are my Dad and Mike."

"But they both loved Maryse," Cody added. "That's why we had this whole arrangement done. Maryse and Ted already had a key but Maryse said Ted and I could have the house so she was going to give me a copy. She was apparently going to run away with Mike because he was doing so well with his business and everything and because Ted's daddy stopped sending him money."

"Daddy's a homophobe so he cuts his son off?" Cena inquired bitterly.

"Something like that. Found out about the arrangement and said he'll start over with my brother Bret," Ted sighed.

"Maryse never really made a move to leave though!" Cody nearly shouted. Ted rubbed his head to calm him and Cody closed his eyes. "I'm sorry but…" He let out an angered huff before relaxing again in Ted's arms. "Anyway, she gave Mike a key to help her move the stuff out that she wanted when she planned on leaving."

Everyone soaked up all they had just heard and let it sink in good before Cena walked up to the cell. "You two are a shining example of what my mother always said." He eyed the couple with a sad smile. "The heart wants what the heart wants and nothing can control that passion." Everyone thought on the saying for a while and then the five men left with only last quick glance at the caged happy couple, feeling every bit of sympathy they could muster.

Footsteps raced to the door as the doorbell was rung. A familiar face greeted the detectives with a smile plastered on it. "Hey, you're back!"

"Hey… Alex, right?" Phil asked with a grin. "Yeah, who could forget a face like that? So young, innocent even." Alex laughed and Phil's grin began to play out on Chris' face as well.

Chris held in whatever he was about to say to get back to the serious business. "Alex, is Mike home?"

"Yeah, he's in his study like usual. Follow me." Alex herded the five in and led them through the halls.

Chris looked around, still amazed even after already being in here before. "He's always in his studies. Guy's gotta work hard, huh?"

"Of course," Alex called back. "The Miz is always busy at work."

"Oh yeah?"

"Oh yeah." Alex all but laughed. "But that's because he's smarter than most people would think he is. I hope I'll be as good as him when he lets me run the place." The young man had a dreamy look in his eyes but it simply faded back to business as they approached the door. He slowly opened it and peaked in. "Um Miz, sir, you remember the detectives from the other day? They're here to see you again as well as some other gentlemen."

This time around, Miz wasn't as down as he was the first time but he was focused on some snacks Alex brought to him not too long ago. He took a sip of his tea and motioned them in. "I assume you have something to tell me about the man who killed Maryse?" Mike picked up his glass and closed his eyes as he drank more.

"Actually, we were hoping you did." Phil called.

Mike looked up at the men, his eyebrows furrowed in disbelief. "What are you talking about?" He scanned all their faces; each having a sly feel radiating off of it. He kept Phil's gaze. "Go play for a little while, Alex."

Alex could feel the tension in the room so he obediently walked out giving the men some privacy. Phil's eyes broke the unintentional staring contest and he smiled towards the door the brunette had just escaped through. "No really, is this kid a minor or what?"

Miz gritted his teeth, "Really? Can we just get back to this?"

"Seriously, he can't be more than 19, 20 right?" Phil joked and got a nod of approval from his cohorts. "He's faithful to you, never speaks back, always says something nice; wish I had one like him.

"Can we just get back to this?" Mike yelled, irritated. That had everyone looking down at him and he just sighed, leaning back in his chair. He rubbed his forehead.

Chris had a seat in front of him. "You seem rather irritable, Mike."

"No, I just hate for someone to waver their focus on something not worth paying attention to; forgetting the bigger picture."

"Oh, like Maryse did?" Phil asked.

Mike looked up at him. "What do you mean by that?"

Phil took one of the chairs and turned it around. He popped a squat and crossed his arms. "I think you know what I mean. Rhodes and Dibiase sure do."

"Any dealings they had with Maryse are their business." Mike defended uninterestedly.

"And yours I'm sure." Chris added. "I mean hanging around them at your bar has to have given you some clue on their 'business'," He made air quotes and crossed his arms.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Miz shrugged.

Phil raised his eyebrows. "Are you sure? McIntyre says otherwise. Says you four were pretty tight."

"Alright, so I may have gone drinking with a good friend and her spouse a couple of times. Big whoop."

"And Cody says otherwise. He said you four had an arrangement worked out."

"Mr. Dibiase Sr. is very influential. I just wanted a little publicity."

"And Ted says otherwise. He said you were planning to have Maryse run away with you."

Miz had no retort this time. He put his tongue in his cheek and pouted like he was well known for. "No I wasn't. I told you she didn't want me because I wasn't wealthy enough for her."

"But Ted's dad wasn't wiring him money anymore so neither was he." Chris couldn't hold back the smugness in his voice.

Mike went silent again. He licked his suddenly dry lips and shrugged. "Well I didn't know."

Phil laughed. "Sure you did. And that's what made you angrier, isn't it?"

"No." Mike turned his head away.

"The fact that she only wanted your money."

"No. I was supportive of her."

"The fact that you were just another money train for her to ride on."

"NO." The answers were getting much more hostile and Mike was getting much more fidgety.

"The fact that no matter how you begged and pleaded, she wouldn't leave Ted." The detective pressed on.

"No. No! NO!" Mike yelled.

"The fact that you were the last man on Earth that she would ever even think about being with if it wasn't for your business!"

"YES!" Mike finally snapped looking the detective dead in the eye. "Yes! Yes! Yes!" He got red in the face, anger devouring the once calm man. He took heavy breaths; inhale, exhale. "I was sick and tired of being turned down by that blonde tramp! I told her over and over and over again that she was better off with someone who actually loved her! I told her over and over and over to leave Ted and be with me but no! It was always 'maybe when you reach a million dollars' or 'maybe when you can afford a bigger house' or 'maybe when you can give me the world on a gold platter!'" Mike threw his hands out as if to catch the distasteful words he just spat out. He frowned. "She took her eyes off the prize far too long."

His eyes went from furious to sad, longing even as he slumped in his chair. "No use in trying to hide it any longer; I did kill her and I'll get to that in a minute but…" He clenched his jaw and looked at the surprise if not disturbed expressions of the men in the room. "You know, the arrangement was that Maryse went with me while Cody and Ted stayed together. She wanted to leave them the house that she knew they couldn't afford. Dibiase only had about two mill left to his name after Daddy Dibiase cut him off and she wanted it. I told her no. I said let them keep that to live on and buy a more affordable house but that greedy trollop said she wanted it all. Ted turned to her and said 'Take it. I only need Cody. We can start over from scratch.'" Mike looked like he was about to break down. He bit his finger nails. "They would start over from scratch…Can you imagine the son of the million dollar man scrubbing toilets or pumping gas? No! But he was willing to just, so he could be happy." Disgust soon played out on his face.

"But she couldn't understand something tender like that. She was a cold hearted gold digger and I couldn't let her hurt anyone else." Mike all but laughed.

The air was uncomfortable but John spoke up, "That's when you killed her…?"

Mike laughed this time. "Yes. I couldn't help myself. I went over her house at nine and we chatted for about an hour and while she was laid out sleep on the couch, I just stabbed her over and over and over…again. Being the business man I am, I cleaned up the mess. One, because I never do a sloppy job and Two, I always think things all the way through." Mike sighed, standing to his feet and holding out his wrists. "Maybe…maybe I just slipped up; got a little sloppy this time, huh?"

"Yeah but it's time to deal with it. Mike, you're under arrest for the murder of Maryse Ouellette." Phil and Chris stood as well and followed regular procedure, reminding Mike of his Miranda rights and slapping the cuffs on him.

Edge looked over to John and Randy. The men seemed out of it, probably stuck on everything that had just happened in the critical moment. Even for him, this was pretty…mind-numbing. As he looked at his colleagues, he made a mental note to inform the chief that a little counseling for a week wouldn't hurt. Then his phone vibrated in his pocket. He looked at the caller id and answered. "Hello?... Done already?...No way...We'll be right over."

"Who was it, Edge?" Randy muttered lowly, never really breaking his concentration or train of thought, moving more on autopilot.

"Dr. Striker said they just finished the autopsy," Edge sighed mournfully as if he was afraid to tell the rest of the conversation. "…and we have a fourth killer here."

Chris squinted questioningly, "What? Who?"

"Pain killers." Everyone in the room had a face of disbelief and shock, mortified at what they were hearing. "She over dosed."

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><p>Ooo again; serious cliff hanger broski! Woo woo woo you know it :D<p> 


	5. Chapter 5

Golly! It's the last chapter for this episode! X3 Thanks for all the lovely reviews! Hope the last chapter isnt a let down!

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><p>Lives hung in the balance at this very moment. They stood before the judge, the man examining the case; page after page, photo after photo. Cena smiled lightly and Randy just rubbed the back of his neck nervously as they stood on either side of the three men on trial. Mike, Cody, and Ted were all looking on with anticipation. Cody and Ted were holding hands stealing glances to one another and whispering sweet little nothings to comfort each other. Mike was staring intently at the judge but from his nods and facial expressions, one could tell he was listening to every motivational word Alex was spewing from the seats behind them.<p>

The manila folder was closed and the judge sighed. He looked up at the men. "Well dang." He nearly laughed. "Three killers, huh? This blonde must've been one mean girl." He crossed his arms. "You know, it's not every day you get a case like this so I'm going to do something I don't usually do." He reached his hand forward, "What do you two young men propose I do?"

Randy and John looked to one another, neither expecting something like this especially from Judge Taker. Randy scrambled for words as John cleared his throat. "Well um…"

"The clock is ticking, gentlemen. You're the last case and I'm ready to go home."

"A year's worth of counseling," Cena interjected. When Randy didn't say anything against it he continued. "Counseling and Rehab sessions, your honor."

Taker crossed his arms, "Is that so? Well why not just throw the book at them? I got good cause to count this as attempted or premeditated murder; give them five years behind bars."

"Your honor please!" Cody jumped in until Randy placed a firm hand on his shoulder.

Randy ran a hand over Cody's back soothingly. "Clam down Codes, we got this." Randy looked back up to the judge. "Your honor, these men were the real victims here and on top of that by all means, the woman was dead before any of them attacked her. Dr. Striker examined the medication and the time of death and the pills had gotten in her system an hour before they actually took effect. She would've legally been dead four hours because of how much medication she took. It wore her system down until she finally completely shut down on the couch where Mike, Ted, and then Cody stabbed her. Yes, they took a little rage out on her but she-over a long series of months-pushed them to that point. On their normal standings they wouldn't have hurt anyone so they aren't a threat. It's like spitting on someone's grave; though it is thought of as disrespectful, no one's getting killed. They didn't hurt anyone but her abuse has caused a little trauma-"

"Trauma?" Judge Taker laughed. "And what kind of trauma could that be?"

Randy looked stuck as he poked out his lips in thought so Cena picked up for him. "W- well…They've all had a huge emotional strain put on them. She stopped all of them from really moving forwards. Because of her, Dibiase and Rhodes had to prolong their relationship and they all but lost all they had because she wanted it. Poor Mike here had to sit back and watch it all as she did what she…did." Cena finished a little fidgety. "But that's why we want to give them counseling instead of prison because they wouldn't do something like this were she not terrorizing them. Now that she's gone they can start over and that starts with getting their minds straight." This time he ended strong and the nod he got from Randy, told him that the man agreed.

Taker's gaze never faltered for a moment as he stared at the men. Soon he blinked and shrugged. "I can live with that especially because I'm ready to leave." He stacked up some papers and stuck them back in the folder before picking up his gavel. "Motion passed. Mike, Cody, Ted; you have counseling for the next year and are required at least two weeks of rehab each month but if I hear anything about you not showing up I will have no problem making you jail bait. Case dismissed." The gavel was banged. Relief washed over the tension filled court room as Cody and Ted hugged each other and Alex and Miz did the same. The once hostile feel had been diminished and bliss was the feeling of the moment.

Ted and Cody walked hand and hand through the halls of the court house until they saw the faces they had been informed by their lawyers were there. One was cross, the other calm concerned. Ted squeezed Cody's hand and they walked up to the rather stout men together. Stare down. Dead Air. A cleared throat. "Hello, Dad."

Mr. Dibiase simply looked Cody up and down and rolled his eyes to look at Ted again. "The media's already all over this. Son, I just want to know why. I don't get it. Didn't I build you the perfect image with the perfect wife to NOT make you a cast out in this family- in this _world_! Why betray all that for him?" Ted Sr. yelled, shoving Cody in the chest.

"Because my son is worth it, Dibiase!" Mr. Rhodes pushed up. He had been standing behind the man for a while just waiting to see how the conversation went. "And don't put yo hands on him again, ya understand me?" the older man's lisp just as prominent as his sons. He huffed and smiled lightly to his boy.

Cody sheepishly raised his hand and waved. "Hi, daddy."

Dusty sucked his teeth and smiled. "Don't 'hi daddy' me. I don't care what you done, your still my Cody, son." He pulled the much thinner brunette into his arms and hugged the life out of him, Cody weeping, sobbed 'thank you's falling into his father's shirt.

Ted grinned at the tender moment and then it faded as he faced his father. He loved how Cody and his parents were but then you get all the controversy in the Dibiase home. It comes with the money, one could say. He reached into his slacks pocket and pulled out the only two million dollars he had left to his name. "Dad, you can have this back; I don't want it."

Ted Sr. sighed. "Look, I know you need it. No use in trying to be noble. You know I'm cutting you off from the whole family so you won't get money from anybody-"

"Dad, open your eyes!" Ted screamed, his face now turning a bright beat red. "Can't you see it's not about the money? For the first time in my life I'm truly happy with who I really am. I'm happy with Cody. I'd gladly go broke if it means getting to be with him." He scanned his dad's face and when he didn't even see a flinch he huffed. "You don't get it. I don't know why I even try. While you go start over with Bret and screw up the life of another one of your kids, I'm going to start over with Cody, the love of my life; get married, and have kids. Take your money," He threw the wad of cash at his father and stormed away. Cody said his final farewells to his father and followed right up behind Ted, lightly kissing him as they left- once again hand in hand.

"Love is stupid," Phil bluntly stated as he drunk from his mug. The gang of five had watched the whole scene from their office window.

Cena laughed. "Why do you say that?"

"Giving up two mill? For a liar? No way," He chuckled to himself and looked towards the door as the handle was jiggling. He went a little defensive until he saw that familiar smile again. "You know I cannot get enough of seeing you, Alex."

Alex laughed again, all his pearly whites showing. "Well that's flattering, really but I'm just the butler."

"And Mike's new business partner, I heard." Chris gently clapped.

"Yeah. This whole story got Mike the publicity he wanted and Drew called me and said the place was booming like never before! I tell you, he's brilliant…Mike's already headed out but I just wanted come and say thanks for all your help and you're welcome at the Awesome Spot anytime you want. Drinks'll be on me, huh?" He laughed with the other guys and waved before strolling out.

Everything was calm and collected until the door burst open again and Josh rushed in. "I'm not too late for the trial, am I?"

"Yeah but," Randy started shocked.

"Oh no! Oh no! Geez…"

Cena rubbed his shoulder, "Josh, Josh, relax! What's going on?"

Josh steadied his breath and tried to get it together. "Maryse was a victim of O.D., right?"

Edge shrugged his shoulder, "Yeah, Dr. Striker confirmed it. What are you dying for?"

"Well something just didn't seem right about that to him so he told me and my boys to check it out. These were some strong meds and are usually prescribed to people with a lot of stress. They're too strong to just be handed around. Well, Maryse wasn't on any painkillers. We found the pill bottle in the neighbor's bushes and…" He couldn't even finish the rest of the sentence. Instead he just handed over the bottle and all Cena could do was close his eyes and shake his head. Everyone else was lost for breath until Randy managed to speak.

"This bottle…is Mike's…"

Edge buried his head in his hands, not being able to stifle his laugh- not one of those 'ha-ha' laughs but the one that said 'I can't believe this'. "He said when we questioned him that he never did a sloppy job and he always thinks it all the way through…down to the smallest detail."

"Brilliant…the boy called him a genius…" Phil added. "He set it up for him not to have the blood on his hands…"

Chris dejectedly laid his head on the desk, "And it's not like we can take him to court for the same thing; that's double jeopardy." The room remained silent for what seemed like forever.

"He played us," Randy sighed out in shock. "Mike…played us…"

He sat in his car, smirking like a cat. He ghosted his fingers over the photo once more. "I told you I'd make it better…now it's all better; my _sweet, sweet_ Maryse." The photo was ripped in two as he contently drove away from the court house. He certainly did make it all _better_…

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><p>Short ending...What a case right? 030 this was a fun one so im thinking about the next one...not too sur how i want it to go but Swagger and Evan are up next! Until then...<p> 


	6. Episode 2: AAA

Next episode!

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><p>"Whoa, what happened here?" Phil raced his way to the front of the crowd of officers and other EMT like personnel that had settled themselves around the scene. A charred apartment and many traumatized survivors. Another call. Sadly he'd take this one alone tonight. Chris was far to busy with matters at home. Family would keep him like most nights but that was expected. The thought threw Phil's focus away and he simply shrugged it off. He continued to bombard his way through the people until be found the familiar face. "Joshy!" He got the man's attention. "What's going on? Brief me."<p>

Josh sighed and led his colleague inside the building. The halls were burned up something awful but nothing a paint-job couldn't fix. The actual source of the fire was twice as bad on the other hand. The top floor apartment was flamed beyond recognition- even distinguishing between the rooms was a test in itself. "The fire started in here; right at the front door and went in. It didn't take to long to spread throughout the entire building. Someone laced the place with gasoline. Highly flammable."

"Gee, Josh. Nearly ten years in this business and I didn't know that," Phil huffed sarcastically. The young guy was so absent minded sometimes. He shook his head and proceeded into the room, taking a look around.

"Luckily, no one was burned really bad besides the person living in here and even he didn't end up with anything worse than a few cuts or bruises from escaping through the window and down the fire escape.

Whoever did this must've had a serious motive. "The person who lived in here; are they out in one of the ambulances?"

"Yeah," The two paced out of the building again. "His name's Evan Bourne. Real young kid. No more than twenty five, thirty. Small, brunette-"

"Your type," Phil laughed at the blush that crept on the investigators face.

"What do you mean?" Josh chuckled uneasily and twiddled his fingers.

"Whatever Matthews." Phil refocused. The kid was sitting in the ambulance talking to one of his people. "Christian?"

The tall blonde turned around, a smirk crossing his face. "You seemed surprised to see me."

"Considering you don't work often, don't I have a right to be?"

Christian shrugged and the two turned back to Evan. The young kid didn't look angry or sad that all his belongings where just decimated in a fire. He seemed really cool about it, curious of the situation moreover. "Evan here, says that he was just getting out of the bathtub when the fire started. Ran out the building soaking wet in a towel." Phil immediately looked down to verify the image for himself. "They gave him some decent clothes and dried him off already."

"Oh," Punk redirected his attention back. "Any idea of who might've did this?"

"Nah, he says he's clueless."

"Actually," Evan interjected with a thoughtful pout on his face. "I think I might know now."

Both detectives looked to one another. "Go on."

:::

"Jack Swagger; 6'6, Caucasian male, in his late twenties- early thirties. What can you tell me about this guy?" Chief Hart asked, needing to know where this was leading to.

Phil checked through some files. "Says this guy graduated from the University of Oklahoma." Phil read through some more unimportant papers. "What's that criminal record looking like?"

"I'll get it," Christian called, sorting through more folders.

Chief Hart leaned on a desk. "What kind of person comes out of a place like Oklahoma?"

"Ignorant hillbillies and hicks if you ask me," Phil nearly mumbled the last part, "and that goes for any of those other southern states."

"Hicks and Hillbilles, huh?" Randy walked into the room looking business like usual. He took a seat on Phil's desk. "Guess this ignorant Missouri Hick ain't got no business with this here law degree." His southern drawl becoming evident with the sarcastic statement. Randy snorted at the thought and chuckled.

Phil laughed too, "Not you. Don't get all offensive; I didn't mean you."

"Found it," Christian called from another file cabinet. "The kids record is pretty clean except for two recent counts of arson and assault with a deadly weapon."

"That's more than enough reason to bring him in for questioning, right?" Randy asked.

"Yeah Phil you check on that but I'm wanna check out his connections to that Bourne kid." Christian stood to his feet.

"Then let's hop to it," Chief Hart disbanded his men to carry out their task.

:::

Christian rummaged through document after document. Evan Bourne. This kid was really cute but according to all the paper work they had on him, he was a rebel- activist if you will. He graduated from the University of Missouri. Taking a shot in investigative journalism, Bourne exposed legal injustice for immigrants in the area. Apparently he's also involved in a equal rights group in the city. His rap-sheet wasn't even tainted besides a few overnight jail stays due to invoking riotous behavior. "Wow," Christian couldn't help but mouth to himself. Some things you just never expect. He sat the folder down and looked over to the one way glass. Now how could this bulking blonde relate to the small brunette?

Chris walked back and forth around the table and rubbed his eyes. He was tired but he wanted to work. Needed to. "Swagger, right?" He sat on the edge of the table and looked over some papers, pointing out the one with Jack's mug shot evident. "Two counts of arson; that's a pretty serious charge don't you think?" Again he got no answer. "Are you deaf, man?" Chris smirked at his half serious- half joking question.

Finally Jack opened his mouth. "I wanna talk to someone that's actually from this country." That threw Chris back a little.

"Excuse me?" Just in that instance a bleach blonde young man came in dressed in an expensive Armani suit with a hot pink undershirt. His hair was short and slicked back, giving him a sleazy look about him. Chris sneered at what he could only deduce was the man's lawyer.

"Finally, someone I can trust." Jack's lisp was prominent as he threw his hands in the air with relief from his earlier frustration.

Chris turned, "And you are?"

"Dolph Ziggler." The question was answered quickly with and outstretched hand and a coined smile. Oh yeah, something about this guy was far too sneaky. "I think my client requested a different investigator, didn't he?"

"Yeah. I don't trust some blonde-haired, blue-eyed, Canadian questioning me." Chris cut his eyes to Jack and grumbled swears under his breath as the door opened and Phil stepped in.

He sat a soothing hand on Chris's shoulder. "I'll take this one."

"Wait, wait, wait. Where you from?" Jack asked rather obnoxiously.

"Chicago Illinois, trailer trash." Phil bluntly put it as he ushered Chris out. He took a seat. "Well now, that's one heck of a mouth you got there running for you, huh?"

"Look, my client didn't come here to be insulted." Dolph waved his hand around.

"And neither did my partner but he got the brunt of that so Jacky here will just have to sit and take it." Phil confidently replied. He looked at the tall blonde's face. "Swagger, what's with this prejudice you have?"

Dolph interrupted, "Don't answer that."

"Please do," the detective corrected. "If you have something against him I'd like to know so I don't risk future disaster." The man looked at Dolph. "No need to introduce assault on an officer to your files, right?" He then turned his attention back to Swagger. "Talk. Now."

Jack leaned forward, looking animalistic and dark as he rested his elbows on the table. He looked up. "I have a problem with all of them."

"All of who?" Phil folded his arms.

"Those foreigners." Jack's distaste was evident. "I ONLY associate myself with all American-Americans."

"Oh yeah?"

"I mean, they take our jobs, our benefits, our homes; it makes me sick to my stomach thinking about it."

"Yeah," Phil slyly added. "Just makes you wanna burn them all from the face of the planet right?"

"You said it, not me." Jack smiled pricelessly, all of those pearly whites on full display.

Phil rolled his neck. "Well sadly, I don't feel the same as you do, Swagger."

It was silence in the room until Dolph stood up. "Are we done here?" He knew for a fact, there wasn't anything else the other man could hold him for so he helped Jack from the chair. "Next time, don't waste my time like this." Dolph smirked as he popped his chewing gum obnoxiously and exited the room. Phil could only swear under his breath.

Chris then sauntered into the room like only he could and had a seat in his previous chair. "What the heck was his problem? I swear his face was even more sour than that time you almost drank Bret's vodka." Chris joked but he could tell something in Phil's head was turning. "What you thinkin' about?"

Christian knocked as he entered. "Hey, check this." Maybe Phil would have to wait for another time. Christian brought his laptop and sat it down on the table.

"What you got there?"

"Shh, just watch." Christian pulled up a sight and clicked play on one of the videos. The two other men groaned when the cheesy dating advertisements popped up and Christian quieted them. "Wait for it, guys." They looked on with growing anticipation and eventual shock when they say Jack's smiling face pop up.

"What is this?" Phil lowly asked.

The camera panned out and showed Jack sitting on his living room couch, as comfortable as can be while he looked at he camera "I just wanna thank Vickie Kiss Cam. Com for helping me find my ideal mate. Now, even I have found true love." Phil gagged at how cheesy the lines were and Chris jabbed him back into focus. "Because of you, I've found the love of my life." The two first time viewers gasped at what they saw next. From the background, Evan came in and tackled Jack on the couch- the two sharing a passionate giggle-filled kiss as Jack reached forward and put a 'Do not disturb' sign in the camera's view. The clip ended and it was absolutely quiet.

Chris finally opened his mouth. It wasn't like he could keep it closed for too long anyway. "But didn't you-"

"Say they were total opposites? Oh yeah." Christian powered down the device and leaned on it's folded structure. "One's a rebel for equality and, from what I've seen, the other's as confederate as they come."

"How'd they get together, in the first place?" Chris knew where this was leading and he calmly stretched as he stood. He headed for the door along with his fellow investigators.

"I don't know, but I'm sure Bourne wouldn't mind telling us." Phil grabbed the doorknob. "Swagger will probably deny everything so we'll go to Evan instead."

"Thank God!" Chris and Christian yelled in unison, causing Phil to laugh as the men left the room.

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><p>So yeah, Swaggzilla in here XD Feeling this one too hopefully i write it good!<p> 


	7. Chapter 7

"You know, it's been far too long since I made house calls."

The taller blonde detective chuckled to his co-worker. Christian looked over the address once more before leading Chris to the door. Being the sleuth that he was, the officer scoped the place out first. This home was fair sized and placed in a rather active part of the community. A variety of calls came from the place on a daily basis but the biggest thing he noticed was the obvious diversity in the area. If America was a melting pot, this was a melting pot within a melting pot.

"Be right there." Finally the door would be answered.

And answered it was by little Evan himself. "Officer Christian, it's so good to see you again. What's the haps?"

Christian cleared his throat and began to speak, "I'm on the clock here kid. You're gonna have to address me as such."

Evan blushed a bit and rubbed his head in shame. "Sorry about that." He crossed his arms and too cleared his throat. "What's the problem, officers?"

"Everyone asks the same thing," Chris laughed lowly before advancing on Evan. "The problem is that we need answers. And we think you can help us." He smirked and folded his arms. "Can we come in?"

"Sure," Evan answered accommodating the men. He opened the door to let them through and once the door was relocked he called through the house, "We got company babe. Please make yourself decent!"

A comply was yelled in return and the men looked around. "You got someone else in here?"

"Well...yes." The brunette bluntly said. "Since my place was burned a friend of mine let me stay here with him. " Evan finished his explanation and lead the detectives to the living room where a very chocolate man sat. His long black dreads were swaying as he bobbed left and right, focus completely on his game system. "Kof, put it on hold for a moment. These gentlemen want to talk."

The man finally turned around and apologized. "My bad, E. I'll go to the -"

"That won't be necessary. We won't be too long." The tallest detective called. "I'm Officer Christian. "

"Officer Chris." Chris reached out his hand to be shaken.

"Kofi Kingston." The man rose and took the offered hand. "Are you sure you want me to stick around? I don't want to be..."

"Really it's fine. May we have a seat?"

"Of course. "

All four men were seated soon after - Chris beside Christian and Evan beside Kofi- and they readied for the discussion.

"So, I'm just going to cut to the chase here," Chris leaned back and crossed one leg over another before leaning forward again, "Tell me about you and Swagger."

Evan sighed. So this is how the investigation would be. Christian assessed how Kofi would rub the man's back soothingly. "Go ahead, E."

"Well," Evan chuckled a little, "It's kind of a funny story."

"Tell me about it." Chris continued.

"For the past two years, Jack and I were...together." Evan thought back "It was pretty fun. We completed one another. I was the short to his tall. I was the happy to his sad. I was the calm to his anger. I was the fun to his boring." Evan looked back at the detective. "I was the activist to his prejudice."

Christian nodded in understanding. "So you knew this?"

"Our differences were what made us complete. And that's why we could see past all that." Evan couldn't help but smile at the fond memories. It dropped rather suddenly however, "Until..."

Now Chris was very interested and he subconsciously gripped his notepad. Here came the meat and potatoes. "Until?"

Evan wiped his sweaty palms on his jean-clad legs before letting out a jagged breath. He weakly grinned. "You know, it's hard to start a business in this town! Without- without...you know... It's really hard." His voice fell many octaves. Evan looked up and could see the plea for information on the detectives' faces. Gathering his strength, he continued. "We just wanted to start our own little bed and breakfast. We would've put it by the airport- you know so people coming in wouldn't have to go far to get sleep! It was going to be our little place."

Chris nodded to Christian and the man went around to sit beside Evan, caressing his shoulders to console him. "You guys never got to build it?"

"As you can see," Evan sobbed out a laugh as he pointed around the small home that was not his, "I'm not that well off. Jack wasn't either. We could combine our income but that would only be able to support us, not our business." Evan shrugged. "So he went to the bank and asked for a loan. Well, that fell through."

"So then what did you do?"

Kofi decided to speak up for the smaller man as he rubbed his knee. "Swagger started doing little favors for this mysterious woman." The chocolate man looked as the short blonde detective scribbled on his paper.

"You don't say?"

"She'd call all the time and- I mean I don't know who she was but then again I wasn't..." Kofi knew the men got what he was saying and he allowed Evan to finish the detail.

"It was that woman from the company that hooked us up in the first place."

Christian searched his brain until it came back to him with a snap of his fingers, "The Vickie Kiss Cam?"

"Yeah her. Jack sent her the tape of us to show his appreciation and they kept in touch. I don't know what they did but he came back home with the money."

"Then why didn't you go for the hotel?"

Evan ruffled his hair and looked at Chris. "He didn't have the same sentiments anymore." Waving away the sorry look in the man's eyes, Evan gazed at the wall opposite him. "Somehow he just had different priorities. I broke it off after a while since he didn't pay me any attention anymore. He was furious." The gaze fell to the floor. "Then he became even more prejudice and...it all just went down hill from there. Notes, letters, threats; he couldn't leave me be."

"I see." One more note was scribbled. Chris looked to Christian and let their eyes connect, this being the signal for the approaching departure. "Well, thank you so much for your cooperation Mr. Bourne. We will notify you if anything comes up."

"If we can find you," Christian joked- and understandably so with all the activities Evan was into.

Evan smiled as genuinely as he could. "Where else do I have to go?"

It broke the detectives a little to see the worn down brunette but alas they tipped their hats and made for the station to report their findings.

"I don't get it? Why would he leave him for her?"

Phil rocked back in his chair. The two blonde detectives had just given him the 411 and all the details of Evan's interview but he didn't seem to comprehend it.

He looked on at a picture of Vickie Guerrero, the owner and founder of the Vickie Kiss Cam as a commercial website. If her face didn't give away her age first, the "Cougar" necklace that sat against her clavicle would.

"Big and Lispy leaves that cute little ball of energy for a prune? It doesn't make since."

"I never said they were dating or anything," Chris retorted and drank from his coffee mug his children bought him. "Insinuating can ruin a whole case and you know that just as well as I do."

Phil smirked and looked to Christian. "I'm not insinuating. I'm just putting two and two together. Isn't that my job?" He grinned at the lack of response he received. "I mean isn't it?" He defensively held up his hands and looked to the door, movement catching his eyes.

"Yeah but this time two and two isn't going to make four." Orton and Cena hurriedly showed themselves as they rushed from the halls. John set his briefcase down as Orton frantically paced the floor annoyed and mumbled to himself. "It's going to make five," Cena held up his hand and sighed. "We got another fire."

All three investigators were on edge now. "What?"

"Yeah," John checked his phone for an address. "Same area but the officers down there apprehended a guy. Thinks he did it but if that's so, the whole case with Jack may fall through."

"Well where is he? Let's go check him out." Christian was grabbing his things and preparing to go, eager to see who this link was.

John grabbed his things and ushered Randy out. "Downtown hospital. The fire was pretty explosive."

"Any other victims?"

"One but we'll check him out when we get there. Now c'mon." And with that they headed out

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><p>So i have decided where im going with this episode if anyone is still interested :)<p> 


	8. Chapter 8

The men arrived at the hospital just as it was pushing nine o'clock. They had picked up their district psychiatrist, another lawyer by the name of Edge, and rushed to the room. The police report said that the victim and suspect were well enough to talk; their burns minor.

Edge was the first to enter the hospital room and he scoped out the two arguing across the room from their separate gurneys'. One of the men was a long haired brunette. He had big brown eyes- one black and bruised- and he held his bedazzled shades atop his head. The other male was black- Wesley Snipes dark- with cornrows and a really crazy look in his eyes.

"Hey hey hey! Calm down!" Phil ran to the front and stood between the patients. "What's all this yelling for?" He stared angrily at the men before him.

"And who are YOU?" The dark man yelled, annoyed.

"Does it really matter?" Phil rolled his eyes.

John came to the front and as did Randy. "We're just here to get answers. We only want to help you." Cena smiled as nicely as he could, nodding to the detectives when the patient's wall of defense fell. "Go ahead."

Phil returned the nod and turned to the brunette. "You first: name?"

"John Morrison." The brunette tossed his hair over his shoulder and smiled genuinely after seeing he wasn't being threatened.

The detective turned to his colleagues to make sure someone took notes. He turned back. "What about you?"

The chocolate man talked to himself for a moment before answering. "They call me Truth, officer."

Chris wrote that down and moved to the brunette's side. He toyed in Morrison's hair before looking down at the man's hand, taking notice of a silver band there. "You married?"

"No," John objected, "Engaged."

All the men looked curiously from one another to the dark skinned man.

"Domestic violence you think?" Christian whispered to Edge- rather loudly at that.

Edge wrinkled his brow. "Doesn't look like a wife beater to me."

"Not to me!" Truth argued as he sat incredulously in his bed.

"Oh no. I have a girlfriend."explained the young man.

"Gotcha," Phil nodded. "So I'm sure this is no chance meeting between you two. How is it you know one another?"

Truth and John looked at eachother and pointed, simultaneously speaking, "We used to date."

The group made a less than satisfied face. "That is until he left me for his girlfriend," Truth mocked in a sweet voice.

"And I've never been happier," John defended.

"More like you never been poorer." Truth came with a comeback. "You know she's a goldigger."

"Mmmm no, envy is not a good look for you."

Randy sighed and sat down in a chair opposite the room, crossing his legs. "So then what is this fire business about?" His arms followed suit in crossing over.

The tension from before returned tenfold and anger in both patients grew once more. "That's just what we were discussing! Truth and I-"

"And Lil' Jimmy!"

"What ever. He thinks I owe him an apology for saving me from a fire that he caused!" John accused.

"Now I done told you: I DID NOT START THAT FIRE! " He began to turn and seemingly talk to the air. "Jimmy now you know I ain't start no fire. Did I start that fire? Nah you ain't seem me start no fire did you?" He looked back at Morrison. "Jimmy said he ain't done seem me start no fire!"

"Who is Jimmy?" Morrison screamed, sounding like he was in pain.

Phil kicked each of their bed posts and shushed them a bit. "Calm down. Calm down."

"So if you guys were broken up, Truth why were you over John's house?" Cena asked.

Silence became of the room and Truth sighed. "Because…I wanted to apologize to him."

John gasped lowly, "Really?"

Truth shrugged and looked away. "I guess me and Jimmy missed you a little. But only a little!" He pouted and lied back on the hospital bed.

Cena enjoyed the slightly heartfelt moment but a look from Randy told him to get on with business. John pulled out a photo from his jacket pocket. "Do you know this man? His name is Jack Swagger."

Morrison was the first to react, slowly placing his finger on the picture. "Didn't he used to date Miz? You know, the famous nightclub owner. What happened to him by the way? It's like he disappeared."

Chris semi-laughed at the memory but instead moved to Truth. "What about you? Know him?"

"Nah. I usually avoid people like him," Truth rolled his eyes.

Cena sucked his teeth defeatedly and turned to his men. "I guess we're at another dead end. Looks like Dolph won't be putting in too much work."

"Dolph?" Morrison visibly perked up at the name. "As in Dolph Ziggler?"

"Yeah," Randy skeptically answered. "What connection do you have to Ziggler?"

"He was my lawyer about two years ago helping me back some molestation charges. Some girl got too touchy with me when she was prepping me for a photo shoot. I'm a male model you know."

"Surely," Phil laughed.

Morrison continued on. "He was a newbie but he had his girlfriend with him. Maria...I think. Whatever her name was, she dumped him to try and get to me because I'll be honest- I was kind of flirting with her from time to time- but out of anger Dolph sabotaged the case in the defendants favor." John shrugged as he explained further. " I didn't get the money or restraining order but that girl is still in my life as," He pointed to his finger, "My fiancé. On his part? Not the best move because that loss went on his record and I hear he was out of work for a while."

"Think that would trigger a vendetta with him?" Cena asked getting in depth. "You took a job from him so he takes a home from you?"

"After two years? Hardly. I mean no offense, but why wait so long? Besides Dolph doesn't go near fire. Afraid it'll catch on his hair. He was always pretty clumsy despite his suave demeanor."

Truth sat up and looked at him incredulously. "I thought you said he was your lawyer? You make it sound like you dated the guy!"

Morrison scratched his head a little shyly and looked down. "Well I...I did."

"What?"

"But that was High school! We met on some website and-"

"Wait," Christian spoke up and came to the front of the group. "That website wouldn't so happen to be Vickie Kiss , would it?"

Morrison blinked awkwardly. "Yes actually. How'd you know that? It's not still popular is it? I mean it's been some time. I heard the owner of the site closed it down for some managerial type stuff with the more physical aspect of her company instead. You know; Speed dating places, clubs, all that jizz."

"Hm..." Randy rubbed his chin. Biting his lip and nodding, he gathered his things and slipped on his coat.

Cena looked between Randy and the two bedded men. "You got something, Randy?"

"I'm thinking." That was all he said before he strolled out the door.

Cena smirked and shook his head. "And he is so dangerous when he's thinking." Excitedly he ran after the man, everyone else thanking the men for their time and proceeding out as well.

:::

Upon entering the office, the team was met with their Fire Marshall leaning on a desk with a folder in his hand. "Kane? What are you doing here? It's late." Chris looked at his watch. "Pushing twelve."

"I got a call. And since I don't sleep anyways, I figured I'd come down here." Kane looked to the lawyer. "Randy, this yours?" He handed over the folder and pointed to the top of it, tapping his finger as he spoke. "Both were started in the same manner. An accelerant was used to manipulate the severity of the flames and the targeted room was the starting point. However, the same person did not start these fires."

Randy nodded and flipped through the folders. "Is that so?"

Kane flipped to some pictures of the two laced hallways. "Here. Look at the pattern of the gasoline. In the first fire, there is a straight line running completely along the side of the hall. Reason being that it would take a little longer to reach the sprinklers and set it off also leaving a clear path for the arson to escape through once they light the flames."

"That's why at Evan's place one side of the hall wasn't nearly as damaged as the first."

"Correct. Now the second fire was much more vicious, much less cautious. Gas was all over the place; hall walls, carpet, everywhere. This person wasn't trying to be cautious they didn't care about their own safety."

"Or they didn't know," Randy mentioned thoughtfully. "Kane, would you say the first fire starter was more experienced than the second?"

Kane snorted, "By far. They're no expert but they've been around a fire and know how it behaves. That other kid is either a masochistic pyromaniac or has no clue what they're doing."

Randy nodded and opened his mouth to speak but closed it right back in thought. Finally he spoke again. "This is just what I needed..." He slid the folder on his desk and looked at the time. "Alright, how's about we head on home huh? I can guarantee tomorrow will be busy. I can guarantee it."

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><p>I am really loving to write this but i need to work on my other stories! This one makes me write more to it though! It takes over my mind!<p> 


	9. Chapter 9

Silence.

There was complete silence in the questioning room as Swagger locked eyes with the Chicago native. Neither had spoken since Jack's summons this morning around nine. It was an early time Randy set and Phil was the only one- besides Orton himself- that was insomniac like enough to make it after the evening prior's run.

Randy sat outside the booth preparing himself for what he, and he alone, knew was about to ensue. He did his homework on the leader of the Vickie Kiss Cam and all its business extensions. The company was failing but somehow it seemed to stay float. He could only wonder, if not insinuate, Vickie had some other means of monetary gain that aided her. She obviously had a connection with Swagger and Dolph and Randy hoped to find that link.

Only a few more minutes and the case would finally be moving again. Arson was not murder but with intent only mere borders away from it, he aimed to treat the case as such. He stared at the clock on the wall and finally decided that the time was right to join Phil in the room. Grabbing his coffee, he calmly walked in the room and had a seat.

After mere minutes he noticed Swagger's gaze on him. He smirked and turned his attention to his cup. "Easy there, big man. You don't get more American than me. I'm a Missouri boy. Consider me you're next door neighbor really." Randy sensed some of the tension filled air ease up and he turned to Phil.

"You really didn't need to dignify this guy with any type of conversation."

" A' course I did, Philly. It's a southern hospitality thing." Randy drank from his cup smugly and he could see the other detective smirk as well.

In that moment a familiar once bleached blonde came rather frantically through the door; coffee spilling out his cup, tie messy, papers unorganized, and distress written on his face.

"Well, how nice of you to join us," Phil stated very humorlessly. "In a rush this morning Ziggler?"

"Oh can it."

The man sat his things down and fixed himself up as best he could before Jack let out a frustrated sigh and cleaned up the man himself. "You are so stupid! Geez!…can't even tie a tie…"

"I'm sorry. I was in a little rush, okay?" Dolph whispered apologetically but sternly as to make himself seem a bit less submissive. "Just calm down."

"I am calm," Swagger sat, irate.

Dolph rolled his eyes and sat too, all the while still attempting to get his legal papers straight. "Yeah sure."

Randy and Phil looked on with a bit of wonder. The scene before them a little more intense than just a client and also seemed practiced, routine if you will. Dolph and Swagger weren't...were they?

They shook the thought and Randy began his session. "Morning Dolph."

"Randy," the younger man answered back. "Honestly I thought we handled this yesterday. What reason could you possibly have for calling us back so soon?" he didn't even lock eyes with Randy so in a rush to fix his papers. Then Randy caught a glimpse of the bandaged right hand of Ziggler.

Orton smiled to himself and closed his eyes momentarily. "You okay Dolph?" Randy asked calmly and sat his coffee down. "Seem a little despondent..."

"Yeah you oozed of confidence yesterday."

"He's fine." Jack insisted. "Now what is this about?"

Randy frowned and pointed to the other lawyer. "Wasn't your hair longer yesterday?"

Dolph stopped what he was doing for a second before frantically moving again. "Yeah I uh...I decided to cut it."

Phil quizzically looked at him too, "And it was platinum blonde wasn't it?"

"I went natural alright?" Dolph yelled and slammed his papers down. Sighing he put his hands in his face. "Look, you are giving me a migraine. What could you possibly want from me this early in the morning?"

"What's up with that hand of yours Dolphy?" He quipped and the lawyer nursed his hand in response.

Dolph shrugged, "Cut myself this morning."

"How'd you burn your hair yesterday?" Randy bluntly asked.

Dolph's head jolted up and he froze. "I didn't…"

Randy threw a file on the desk. "Sure you did. I checked the hospital records of the check- ins and you're right here; right here about the same time fire fighters were reaching the scene of the other fire- that you're going to say you don't know anything about- in the home of John Morrison- whom you will probably say you never met."

"What are you rambling on about?" Swagger nastily spat.

"How Dolph here is going to be taken away for two counts of arson and two attempted murders." Randy smoothly said as he locked eyes with the now brunette Ziggler. He then cut his eyes to Jack, "You're only here so I can inform you that you're off the hook."

"What?" Dolph stood in outrage.

"Yeah," Randy slyly laid another folder down. "You see my good old boy Mathews in forensics helped me out. Found some blood left on the door handle from the Morrison fire. In order to get into the house you had to break a window which you cut your hand on. You left blood then on the door as you escaped. Ran it through some tests and all signs point to Lauderdale on this one. You setting the flames and being so clumsy as Morrison put it makes sense for why you had to cut your burnt hair and take the highly flammable bleach blonde dye from it."

Every mouth in the room was agape even Phil. He couldn't believe the work Randy did in the night time hours. Even so, a slight smirk from Randy told him that whatever was said needed to played along with. He nodded sternly and examined the opposite lawyer. He still hadn't found the strength to protest, argue, agree...anything really but Jack did.

"That's really too bad that you did that, Ziggs." Swagger raised himself from the chair. "Prison won't be a good look for you but I'll see ya when I see ya." He was at the door already, "Hopefully someone good will have tried your case and it won't be too long."

"A minimum of five years, do you consider that long?" Randy smirked but it didn't faze Jack who was still making his way across the room.

Just as the blonde was about to walk out Dolph sprung up and pointed his good finger at Jack. "Oh no! You're not leaving this on me again! I wont allow it Swagger!"

Jack and he exchanged glances before Phil spoke. "Again? What's that mean?"

Dolph's eyes pierced the taller frame at the door as he spoke clearly but fast. "I'm not going back to prison for anyone; not you, Vick, Morrison, or that pipsqueak of a man with brown eyes and hair who's not even the size of my thumb that you like to call a lover. None of it is worth my time or my patience,what little bit I have, and it's aboutk TIME…everyone realizes that! Vick isn't gonna take care of us and you know that as much as I do! I'm not going down for this one!"

Jack let the man blow off the steam before turning around and holding out his arms, "Is this really the right time for this? Why do you choose now to man up?"

"Not manning up, wising up. Because I know how the penal system works in this town with Judge Taker at the throne and all his humble servants at his whim more than a screaming group of fan girls at a Beiber concert. It's rigged. Just like it was six years ago when Officer Michaels and Judge Helmsley were on the stand; it's rigged. And I don't plan on going back on trail for ANYTHING I didn't do just to have favoritism decide my fate and leave me being passed around that cell more often than a dollar in the grocery ." Dolph picked up his suitcase and threw it into the wall- all the papers flying every which way. "You wanna hear it all officer?" he turned to Punk with intent.

Sensing the doom, Jack grabbed him forcefully but Dolph snatched away. "Ziggler you better not-"

"I'll admit that I lit that second fire. I didn't think anyone was in the place because our leader- our oh so faithful employer Vickie Guerrero said SHE owned the homes! Didn't give me a key so I had to break in through the window, which hurts a lot more than Hollywood actors let on. There I cut my hand started the fire clumsily, set my hair in flames, and ran for the door but -lucky me- the heat made the door hot so it burned my already bleeding hand. It set off the fire alarm and I broke the door down, leaving for the hospital just as everyone arrived on the scene." He explained as calmly as possible but irritation still evident. "I even have a message on my phone of where she sent me and all the details." He pulled out his cellphone and scrolled through it. "It's just not worth it."

Phil couldn't believe what was going on but the smirk on Randy's lips told him the young lawyer expected it. He waited and watched as Randy took the next step.

"So what's your excuse Swagger? Why'd you burn the first one with your quote-on-quote 'lover' in it?"

Jack folded his arms and closed his eyes in annoyance. "It has nothing to do with him. Don't you get it? It had nothing to do with him or those foreigners living there," he spat out coldly. "I was paid to burn the place down too courtesy of our employer. Did it help me swallow down what I did when I realized those people lived there? Yeah sure but my intent was to get the job done."

"Don't bury yourself more than you already are. You're six feet below and nowhere near the bottom so what more do you have to lose? Just tell them everything Swag. Tell them about how the Kiss Cam business flopped! Tell them about how Vickie had to reopen her husbands drug cartel to make money! Tell them why she was sending you to burn those places down, Swag!"

"Aright!" Jack shouted in despair, hands feverishly running through his hair. "At first it was just me burning down some places she owned to get the money. She couldnt tie up the loose ends Eddie, her husband had made in the beginning- he had been out the drug ring for so long and you know those things are all about connections and keeping your name out there."

Phil found that now was a good time to put two and two together. "So when Evan said you were making the money, it was by selling drugs and getting insurance money? You could've taken that for the bed and breakfast."

"Yeah but to have that keep supporting us would've been heck on that angel so we had to break it off and I focused back on work. Vickie got back on top with Dolph working the cartel and she started sending me to torch buildings that people were living in. I knew she didn't own the place and I figured it must've been some saps that owed her money but never paid. I'd always wait till everyone was gone usually but when I knew my ex was in that other one I couldn't wait.I had so much anger that he left…I just went for it." He smoothed his hands over his face and sighed.

Phil added his two cents, "Since you were under our suspicions you couldn't burn that second building so she sent the very inexperienced Ziggler."

Jack nodded to Dolph."Used-to-be blondie over there didn't know about any of that; I can vouch for him. He's worked the cartel and doesn't torch."

Dolph nodded at his partner as well, expecting something like this to be the case. He sighed "Insurance fraud was one thing but this…"

Everyone basked in the silence for a while before Randy stood and turned to Phil, "Confiscate these mens' phones and run it through our system. I'm going to tell Cheif Bret to stop the recording and call the judge." Patting the more than distressed Dolph and divided Swagger, he made his way out the door. "Looks like we've got enough to go to court boys."

* * *

><p>And i finally updated this :) The last chapter for this episode is next so im gonna do my best! Also hope this wasnt too hard to follow.<p> 


	10. Chapter 10

And the last installment of AAA (All-American Arson). Enjoy!

* * *

><p>The courtroom was full of now understanding residence of the burnt down apartments and homes. As a lawyer, Ziggler knew how to sway his story to not only make it truthful and believable, but also keeping himself and Swagger victimized. Randy applauded the man's gift. A firm had to be stupid not to hire a spin doctor like him.<p>

Evan came forward to testify on Jack's behalf about his character and John Morrison on Dolph's. According to the character witnesses, each were young genuinely good people in need of money. Anyone in the poor part of the city could understand.

Dolph only hoped the jury could understand too.

Judge Taker nodded and skimmed through the files he was given once more. A sigh. "Obviously I cant just let you go completely, so tell me again why I should let you out of here with a lesser penalty. Sure you threw yourself on the mercy of the court but these are serious charges."

Dolph worried his lip before explaining. "And sir I do understand that but my partner and I were backed into a tough situation. We gave ourselves up, understanding the repercussions, and we even gave the detectives more information that would help them put the true criminal away."

Taker just stared in silence before laughing. "You just pulled that one out of your butt." Just as Dolph was to protest, Taker held up his hand, "But I'll tell you what: You to stay in police custody until this true criminal is sent before me. If I see that she is all that you told detectives, when you come back before me the most you'll get is probation and community service to pay for the damages to all the houses. Deal? Sound good?" He banged his gavel without anymore time for objections.

:::Downtown:::

"Can I help you," A Latino man came to the door that Christian and Chris rapped on. The taller blonde offered his hand.

"Im officer Christian and this is Officer Chris." The hand was shaken.

"Chavo," he replied. "Can I help you, _officers_?" He asked again in a much friendlier tone, stressing 'officers'. Very suspicious.

Chris held up a picture and asked, "Is Mrs. Guerrero here?"

"Sì, Ella es mi tia." He motioned them closer and called back into the house. "Aunt Vickie, there's two detectives who want to speak with you!" Chavo waited but to no answer. "Vickie!" Again, nothing. "That's weird she was just in the kitchen. I'll be right back," he mentioned as bs walked back in.

The two detectives were just about to enter behind when the shorter Canadian caught a sight out the corner of his eye. Not only did he see but he also heard the sound of an unfamiliar car screeching out the driveway. Turning quickly, Chris was only able to get a quick glance of the wanted woman hightailing it off the scene in their police car. "Son of a Gun!" Bs yelled and ran to try and catch it but he knew he'd never beat on of the cars.

Christian came running out at the sound as well but he was on his phone. "So you're telling me, Ziggler got out?! How the heck did that happen? Where did he go?" The closer he looked into the back window, the clearer Dolph's form seemed to appear and Christian sighed in frustration. "Look it doesn't even matter! Just get me every squad car in the area tailing after ours!"

"They're headed outside the city into the mountains." Chris added bluntly trying to calm himself.

"They're headed outside of the city!…yes, towards the mountains! Hurry it up! Oh and you tell security I want a full report on this when I get back to the station," The last words came off with true malice and abruptly his phone was hung up. "Idiots!" Christian threw his cell to the ground.

Chris huffed defeatedly and crossed his arms. "If they make it to those mountains, we'll never find them."

"And that's just what's going to happen. You know our squad cars can't dispatch that fast." Christian complained and stomped around angrily.

Chris shook his head in disbelief. "This is just...ridiculous."

When the men returned back to the office, they rushed upstairs to the holding cells. Chris looked to Phil, who was reprimanding the head of security, for answers. "What happened? Oh well let me just tell you, Jericho." Phil faked a smile and pointed to Head of Security. "Khali here, thought it would okay to leave Ziggler unattended while a number of guards were on Swagger. How smart!"

His Deputy, Runjin interjected, "Our bad, okay?! This Swagger kid looked a whole lot more threatening than the smaller one!"

"Aww, don't give me that!" Phil waved the excuse away and stomped over to Jack. "Did you know about this?"

Jack just shrugged, not surprised by any of this. "If I knew about it, don't you think I would've ran away with them?" As the realization hit Phil, Swagger rolled his eyes. "Exactly." He pointed around his cage, "So in an incident like this, do I stay here until you find them or what?"

"No," Randy stepped on to the scene accompanied by the first victim they encountered, Evan. "In a case like this we ask the Judge to overturn his previous decision as far as withholding and just let you deal with community work. You even got someone that would post bail." He smirked down at Evan who stepped forward by the cell.

Jack didn't look to impressed but that made Evan grin harder. "How you doin, Bourne?"

"Fine, Jacky."

Randy smiled momentarily and patted Bourne forward more to the bars. "Earliest we'll have you out is the morning."

Smiling, Evan slipped his hand through the cage and slipped Jack a wrinkled piece of paper. "Check it out."

Swagger curiously accepted the paper and couldn't keep the smile off his face, those big teeth showing prominently. He looked back and forth between the paper and the smaller brunette. "So you finally got it?"

Evan nodded and reached in his pocket. "Yup, the bank finally approved the loan for our place."

"Our place?"

"Our place." Bourne shrugged and crossed his arms. "What else do you think I bailed you out for? After officer Dolph explained all the details during the trial, I guess it a made sense. So you willing to give this thing another try- without the Vickie Kiss Cam?"

Jack laughed in disbelief and nodded, "Am I the All-American American that I know I am?"

The group basked in the tender moment until they were called on by their Chief. "So?" Christian asked in anticipation.

Chief Hart just dropped his head, "They got away." A collective sigh. "Yeah, I know but we traced all the drug lines and stopped them in Guerrero's district and the insurance companies are already finding homes for all the victims. That being the case, don't. beat yourselves up over this." He nodded to them and took off to do work.

"I can't believe this, not after all that work I put into getting a confession," Randy yawned making Phil and Chris laugh.

Chris smirked and prepared to go home. He promised Christian to eat after his hard work on the case. For him to just be coming back, he did pretty good. "Don't worry, Randy. We'll run into them again. One day."

* * *

><p>Well hope the end was unexpected! The next story will include...I'm not sure! All open for suggestions, though!<p> 


	11. Episode 3: Just to Get High

"I can't believe we're here on a Monday morning!" Chris shouted through the empty halls of the academy. Phil just smirked and kept to walking. The blonde looked at him in disbelief. "And you're somehow able to just swallow this. You're not cranky about it. Where's the wake up coffee? Where's the morning protein shake? Why aren't you tired?!" He flailed around exaggeratedly.

Phil grinned expectantly and shrugged. "I don't need any of that. Living is a wake up call in itself. Surviving is a natural high."

The unsatisfactory answer made Chris roll his eyes. "Whatever. I don't want to be here. I want to be in bed."

The two detectives were there for a presentation their chief prepared for them to convey to all the students at the police academy. The many rooms usually full of rambunctious officers in training were empty. They considered that everyone was already in the auditorium so they quickly made their way over there. Just as they expected, everyone and everything was already in place all that was left was for them to deliver.

Almost two hours later they were finished. Tired but very welcome at the academy, the two officers joined three of the instructors in morning breakfast. They sat in a conference room and ate to their hearts content, Chris finally getting the morning coffee he needed.

"Stone Cold Steve...So, how have you been, Austin?" Phil asked, stuffing food down his throat.

"What?"

"I said 'how have you been'"

"... What?"

"HOW ARE YOU?" Phil raised his voice.

Steve blinked questioningly. "What?"

Chris just laughed and continued with his drink. "He's a lost cause. So I'll ask Ms. Stratus, whats the new news around here?"

Trish nodded behind her coffee cup. "Well I guess you see that you didn't just come today by accident." She dusted off her hands and sat back in her chair. "So here's the scoop: we need you to investigate into two recent deaths of students."

Phil and Chris looked to one another and then back to Trish. "Go on."

"We think that they're connected to one another. The first kid was Caylen Croft. He just disappeared like didn't show up for classes or training. We found him some weeks later in his room- dead by his computer desk. After that, it was Trent Barretta. He was Caylen's room mate and boyfriend. We didn't find his body but we found a suicide letter so the first investigators figured he offed himself due to depression. again, his letter was by his computer desk." Trish flipped her blonde hair back and pursed her lips in thought. "I knew those two and something just wasn't right. I asked around the school and the students didn't believe it either. So I want you two to get a closer look at this whole thing. Can you do that for me, boys?" Trish, pouted cutely knowing Chris always had a soft spot for her and of course he agreed. "Great. Talk to some of the kids and see what you can find out. Booker, get them started around the place would you?"

Booker T, who had been face deep in some pancakes immediately went to his feet to lead the men out. Down the hall, the man finally opened his mouth. "Sorry about being so quiet, dawg. It's just Steve won't stop all that 'what' mess when I talk so I just shut up all together!" Huffily he lead them to the practice interrogation room. "It's two kids in there now. Johnny Curtis and Derrick Bateman. Solid students. Talented kids. They should be able to help you when they finish." He nodded and walked away.

Phil glanced in on the men from the one way mirror and went to grab the door handle only for Chris to stop him grinning. "Just wait a minute." Not feeling like protesting, Phil went back to watching as well.

"So," Curtis slinked over to the seated man and leaned beside him on the table. "I hear you know about what happened to those little girls. And you're going to tell me," his voice was low and smooth but Derrick wasn't changing his stoic facial expression. Johnny pushed up off said table and leaned down until his nose was inches from Bateman's ear. "And if you don't tell me things are gonna get really wierd." He purred.

Derrick again didn't even flinch. "Alright have it your way, I'm going to make this uncomfortable for you because you don't understand how wierd I can get. I mean freaky wierd too."

This time Bateman opened his mouth but kept his plain face. "Alright, this isn't working. You don't make me want to tell you anything. I feel like you're coming on to me."

"Oh yeah cuz I can get real wierd," Johnny began to pant repeatedly, breathing in hard through his teeth.

"Yeah definitely coming on to me." But Cutrtis didn't stop, moving around still talking. "You're coming on to me- you're coming on to me. Stop coming on to me. Johnny, just stop talking. Curtis just- CURTIS STOP IT!" He finally yelled annoyed with all the noise right in his ear. "There's a reason we call you Dirty Curty," Derrick pulled his hair and sighed at the confused man.

"I thought it was going well."

"No. It wasn't." He dug in his ear again and lied on the table in disbelief only being drawn away by the laughter he heard on the other side of the door. Then the two detectives made their entrance.

"Who are you two hecklers?" Curtis asked flatly.

Bateman slapped his arm and stood up. "Watch your mouth, you idiot. That's Detectives Chris and Phil. You know...Phil and Chris." He stressed the names.

Johnny still looked dumbfounded. "No I don't know." He crossed his arms and stared hard. "But you must be important so nice to meet you." He outstretched his hand which was accepted. "Johnny Curtis."

"I'm Phil and this is my partner Chris." The man smiled and took his seat on the table while Chris was in the empty chair.

"Well what can we do for you, sirs?" Bateman asked with reverence.

Chris shrugged. "Information."

Johnny shook his finger as he got an idea of what was to come. "About those two Internet geeks. Right right. Yeah I heard about that."

"Croft and Barretta? They said it was a closed case." Derrick looked on questioningly.

Phil smirked "Well we're opening it up. What do you know about it?" He nodded to his partner, encouraging the man to pull out pen and paper to take note. "Tell me something good."

-

"Narcotics." Doctor Striker answered looking through a few files. "Caylen died due to an overdose of brain damaging narcs from this bottle." Josh held up a pill bottle and handed it over to Cena.

John gave it a once over and handed it back to Randy. Randy popped the cap and analyzed the strange orange and purple capsule pill while Josh handed Cena torn bottle label. "What's this?"

Matt "What Trent was taking. As you know, there wasnt much luck finding his body but this bottle was found on the floor next to trace amounts of blood that was later ID'd as Barretta's. The trail led all the way to the patio and just disappeared. When we looked back, we saw that Croft was also taking it- in fact, he was the one who purchased it from an online ad."

"Amazing Z-pills...What is a Z-pill?" John asked looking at the multi-colored narcotics.

Mathews pulled out a two photos, pointing to the logo on the first. "This is the symbol you will see on the label. It's an encircled Z and R combined. It's the brand from upcoming media star Zack Ryder." He then pointed to the other photo of a gaped-toothed, spiky haired, blonde. "And this is Zack Ryder. His webshow has been going on for about 79 weeks now and the 'Ryder Revolution' is ever growing. The guy has over thirty billion views every show. We don't know where he shoots the show from exactly but we've found out it's from a pretty close place. Trent and Caylen were fans of the show."

Randy scoffed and closed the bottle. "So Ryder gets sued for the distribution of pills that weren't approved by the FDA. No big mystery. He pays with retribution money. Case closed."

"You'd think that." Striker pointed out, "But this isn't a product that could've been created at home. These chemicals are what colleges use to for medical students in their senior year. So obviously he's a student somewhere. There's more to this case then some kids taking bad pills."

"College, huh?" Randy thought long and sucked his teeth. "The Pat Patterson Private School for Boys... That's pretty close right?"

John confirmed it and really looked at the picture of Zack, realizing who it was. "Can I have this picture?"

"Why?" Josh skeptically asked. "I can make a copy but you can't just have our picture."

Cena waved his hand around. "Sure sure, but I think our pyschologist might be able to help us with finding this guy and I want to jog his memory."

Even Randy didn't understand but the more he stared at the picture the more familiar the face was. "That picture of Edge and his two best friends... That's not that blonde boy is it?!"

John just smiled and began to walk away, Randy thanking the men and following behind. They needed a little meeting with Edge himself.

* * *

><p>So here's the start of the next case! I decided to put Zack in here because he's siiiiiiccck! Thank you to everyone who keeps on reading and reviewing! :) <p>


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